


The Cut of A Hero

by tabbyfeathers (orangefeatherybooty)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Mineta Minoru Doesn't Exist, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku are Best Friends, Bakugou Katsuki is a Dork, But it takes a while, F/F, Fluff, Gem Fusion, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, M/M, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Friend, Multi, Trans Character, Trans Midoriya Inko, also a lot of characters are trans because i said so, and then they fall in love, because they love and want to protect their stupid children, i'm gonna continue this i'm just doing other stuff lately, no beta we die like men, possible eventual dadmight and dadzawa, so don't really expect any su characters to show up, sorta - Freeform, they're both bad at feelings but they try, this is a feel-good fic first and foremost, this is kind of a crossover and kind of not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-01-27 09:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21390160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangefeatherybooty/pseuds/tabbyfeathers
Summary: Izuku still doesn’t really know what it means to be a half-gem, but he knows what he wants it to mean-- that he can be ahero.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 48
Kudos: 257





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello! I'm Tabby. This is my first ever fic (after years of roleplaying and drawing comics) so please, be gentle. Constructive criticism is super welcome because I'm still not super used to this, but please don't be mean. I WILL cry. I'll also cry over nice comments, so maybe that's not saying very much.
> 
> Anyway, this fic exist because I love Izuku, I love gems, and I love the tender concept of fusion. The bakudeku doesn't really show up until later, because they're just kids, and they're terrible at feelings, but they're going to be very very cute around each other regardless. Izuku has a lot of love to give. 
> 
> Now, this fic is still kind of in its preliminary stages because I wrote some of it out of order and am considering a rewrite of the first two chapters to account for possible style change, but I've been sitting on what's written for long enough that I want to see what the reaction is anyway. If anything feels wonky, then that's why haha. But regardless, I hope you enjoy, and if you do, leave a comment!

The only things Izuku knows about his other mom is that she was big, she had pretty green skin and the softest green hair, just like he has. He also knows that she had a gem-- the same gem that he has, too, and the reason why she was called “Emerald.” He watched all the videos Mom took of her, where she’s laughing at something on the tv or cleaning up the living room, or doing any of the other things he sees Mom do too, now. She looks happy in the videos, and he can hear Mom laughing from behind the camera sometimes too. She says that Emerald, Mama, gave up her gem to make him, so even if she isn’t here anymore, he has a little bit of her inside him. It doesn’t make very much sense, but neither does much else.

The world is full of people with quirks, crazy powers that let them do cool stuff, or even save people, like All Might does. Izuku became obsessed with All Might soon after watching him save a whole bus full of people, and then go back for even more. It was amazing, watching him work so hard to help people, and to be so good at it! Izuku knows very early on that he wants to become a hero just like All Might-- he wants to save people, and make them feel safe just because he’s around. Even the doctor telling him and Mom that his pinky-toe is there and he shouldn’t get a quirk doesn’t phase him. 

“I already have a quirk, Mom. You told me that Mama gave it to me!” he says, bright and beaming and not worried at all. Emerald gave him her gem, and that’s just like getting a quirk; it’s something that makes him different. Mom sniffles and shakes her head, her expression hurt in a way he can’t interpret, before she smiles and gives him a hug. The Doctor mutters something about “unreliable data” and puts down his quirk as “Gem.” He doesn’t see what the big deal is, whether they call his gem a quirk or not. Maybe he should be sad-- that getting his gem from her is like inheriting a hair color, and he should be sad that he won’t get something else, something more exciting. But he’s not worried. He has his gem, and he has his best friend, and they both want to be heroes so bad that they’ll _ have _ to succeed. Katsuki doesn’t have a gem like him, but he can make explosions with his hands, which is maybe even cooler. But Katsuki likes his gem, and he shows Izuku new tricks as soon as he learns them, so he must like him too. 

They both share a love for All Might, even if Katsuki sometimes says weird things about him, like how he’s gonna be an even better hero someday-- it hurts to hear that maybe someday All Might won’t be as good at saving people, but it’s smart of Katsuki to work towards something, so Izuku does too. They both want to work really hard to be the best hero, and it’s good, to have someone who shares his passions. It’s really easy to talk to Katsuki, and they spend a lot of time together, which Izuku always enjoys. 

Tonight they’re having a sleepover at Katsuki’s house for his sixth birthday, playing with some of the All Might action figures Katsuki got in his presents. Katsuki is pretending All Might can make explosions with his hands like him, and Izuku is laughing at him as he makes his own sound effects. They’re actually really accurate, but Katsuki is making silly faces to do them, so it’s funny. After a while, Izuku rolls onto his stomach and props himself up onto his elbows, cheek resting in his hand. He fidgets with the silver age All Might Katsuki let him play with, idly tracing the place where his own gem would sit on All Might’s chest. 

“What do you think he would be able to do, if All Might had a gem like me? I think he’d have a ton more cool powers, and people would like him even better, because his gem would be really really pretty. It would be gold, and cut in a- in a, um, in a sunburst pattern! I was looking up gem cuts with Mom, to see what mine is, and sunburst is really pretty. And mine is- mine is an emerald gem, and it’s also in an emerald cut!” As Izuku talks Katsuki stops playing with his own figure, focusing on him and getting a contemplative look on his face. When he’s finished, it looks like Katsuki wants to speak, and he hesitates for a moment before just bowling forward.  
  
“Do you like-- is it weird, only having one Mom? Instead of two moms, I guess. I think it would suck, but you don’t seem sad all the time.” Katsuki’s question throws him, and he has to stop and consider it really hard. Why isn’t he sad all the time?

“I think it’s because I never met her. Mama died when I was born, so she could give me her gem and make me. I only know about her because Mom told me, and Mom always gets sad talking about Mama, because she remembers when she was alive. But I’ve only known one Mom, so it doesn’t make me sad _ all _the time. It’s still really sad, missing her. But I don’t miss her as much as Mom does. Doesn’t mean I don’t, it’s just… a different kind of sad.” He pauses to see if Katsuki has gotten bored of him yet, like the other kids do when he rambles, but Katsuki is staring at him, rapt. He smiles and scratches his neck a little nervously. “Does that make sense, Kacchan?”

“I think so. I still think it sucks, not having your other Mom around. But it makes sense how you feel.” Katsuki nods sagely, like everything Izuku said makes perfect sense, and Izuku beams with pleasure over being so easily understood. Katsuki is seriously the best. 

Still, the conversation sticks with him. He wants to know more about his other mom, about what she was like. Later, when he’s back home with Mom after Katsuki’s sleepover, he lets himself into her room and hops up on her bed. Mom smiles at him and reaches out to pull him close and tuck him up against her side, and he lets himself cuddle her for a moment, before focusing back on his reason for coming in. 

“Mom, I… Can you tell me more about what Mama-- Emerald, was like? What it was like for her to be a gem?” She looks surprised for a moment, clearly not expecting that kind of question, before she sighs and smiles at him in that sad way he’s come to associate with talking about Emerald. He snuggles up to her a little closer, for reassurance. 

“Izuku, sweetheart, Emerald was a lot of things. She was fierce and beautiful and very very bright, just like you,” and she boops him on the nose as she says it, making him giggle. Her smile is still sad, though, as she continues, “but she knew what would happen, if we had a child together. Izuku, gems- gems can do many things. Your mother could do many incredible things, and she was one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. That’s why I fell in love with her, though I don’t know how she fell for me.” When Inko laughs it’s quiet and a little pained, and Izuku squeezes her hand to let her know she can keep going. She smiles at him and tucks a curl behind his ear. “So she was very smart, and very kind, but gems aren’t… they aren’t the same as us, Izuku. Gems aren’t human. She was an alien, made of a gemstone. To have a child together, she had to turn into something that could… make you, and then give herself up to let you be born. But she loved you very very much Izuku, I know she did, and that’s why she wanted to have you so much.” Izuku nods despite feeling his eyes fill with tears. Hearing his Mom so emotional-- so _ sad _\-- always made him cry. Still, he wipes his face, looking for more answers. 

“I know you loved her, and I love her too, but I wanna- I wanna know more ‘_ bout _ her. What could she do that was so cool?”

Inko laughs, a bit brighter now. “Like I said, sweetheart, she could do lots of things. She was very strong, so she could lift me without even trying-- and I am not a small woman, Izuku. She also had these special gloves that came from her gem that helped her protect people, a little like a hero.” Izuku looks starry-eyed at the revelation, a hand pressed against his gem as he thinks about his own potential. His own _ mom _ was a hero? It’s an inspiring thought. 

“Do you think I’ll get gloves like her?” And even to his own ears, his voice sounds faint with hope. Inko caresses his cheek, leaning down to peck a kiss on his forehead. “Oh Izuku, whatever you’re able to do, I know you’ll be incredible at it. Now go back to bed, okay? You have school tomorrow, and you know you’ll want to be able to keep up with Katsuki in your classes!” Nodding, Izuku hops off the bed and runs to go brush his teeth and get to sleep. He can’t let Katsuki take first in class again! Inko watches him go, smile fond and still a little sad. He’s going to be alright, even without Emerald here to help raise him. She’s still here, in her own way, in Izuku, and Inko finds that’s the most she can hope for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it so far! And yes, Inko is trans, that's why Emerald was the one to carry Izuku. We love and respect trans Inko is this house. If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment! I thrive on feedback :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku wants a power, wants to have _something_ about him that he can use to be a hero. He just didn't expect it to be this.

After that conversation with his Mom, Izuku is dying to know if he’ll have powers like Emerald had. He tries to get his gem to do something, but none of it works, not even standing on his bed in his All Might onesie thinking _ really hard _ about gloves and fighting bad guys. He really thought the onesie would help make him feel more heroic. After his (many) experiments yield no results, he resigns himself to waiting. It’s surprising, then, that he doesn’t have to wait long before he stumbles into his first power. 

Izuku is only six (and a half!) now, and Katsuki almost (but not quite) seven. They’re sitting in Izuku’s room with the radio playing music while Katsuki practices letters at the desk and Izuku sits in a patch of sunlight on his bed, collar pulled down so his gem can soak up the sun. He doesn’t know how he knows to do it, but he always feels better after sunning himself, so he keeps at it. His hair is a shock of dark green against the blonde and blue of his All Might bedsheets, and his skin glows faintly green in the sunlight. He looks content, almost napping. Katsuki can’t help but sneak little glances at him, snickering as he does-- Izuku has always been weird, and he really does look like a cat lounging in a sunbeam stretched out like that. The music changes from a mellow, lazy tune to something poppy and upbeat, and Izuku opens his eyes with a happy sigh, sitting up on his bed and grinning. The song is repetitive but catchy, easy to dance to, and Izuku feels so warm and bright with happiness that he can’t help but jump off the bed and dance, an uncoordinated mass of limbs and youthful energy. 

“Kacchan!” Izuku wiggles himself over to the desk and holds out a hand, smile bright. “Come dance with me!” Katsuki gives him a withering look, glancing pointedly back at the marker in his hand, before the strength of Izuku’s smile is too much and he sighs and hops off the chair. 

“This is stupid, Izu. You look like an idiot dancing like that.” Izuku’s energy is fun but also embarrassing sometimes, for a boy like Katsuki, who’s starting to learn that things are expected of him, of everybody. Still, he stretches out his hand.

“Yeah, but it’s fun! Dancing doesn’t have to be cool, it just has to be fun.” Izuku grabs Katsuki’s hand and pulls him around the room, laughing and swinging them around like they’re blowing aimlessly in the wind, until Katsuki is smiling and dancing with him too. The song has changed but it doesn’t matter, Izuku is just so _ happy _ here, with his best friend, on such a beautiful day, dancing and laughing with him. His joy feels real, tangible, like a thing growing inside him, and suddenly he’s pulling Katsuki into a spin that turns into a hug as his gem starts to glow at the sound of their laughter. And suddenly he’s not Izuku, or Katsuki, he’s… both. 

Big hands, broader than they should have been, touch curiously at his clothes (ill fitting), his face (sharper cheeks, less chubby), his… eyes (his eyes!). Four eyes, two electric green and two vibrant blood-red, blink in tandem, before realization hits him like a sledgehammer and his form wobbles, glowing, and splits apart. 

Izuku and Katsuki pick themselves up off the ground, staring at each other in utter confusion, before Izuku’s face flushes dark red and he jumps onto his bed to bury himself under the covers. 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened!” Izuku’s voice is muffled by his mound of blankets, but now that the initial confusion is over Katsuki can understand him just fine, and he marches over to the bed with a huff, pulling the blankets back. 

“What do you mean you don’t know what happened?! It’s your quirk, isn’t it? Your gem? Get out from under there and tell me what that was, idiot!” Izuku whines, but lets himself be pulled out from the covers, face already wet with tears. He looks up at Katsuki like he expects to be thrown out of his own house for whatever just happened. Katsuki huffs, then softens, hopping up onto the bed and pulling Izuku into his chest. 

“Hey, it’s alright. If it’s something new about your quirk, we can ask Auntie about it later. It’s just stupid that it took you this long to do it, if it’s part of your quirk. But you’re weird, so I guess it’s ok.” Izuku sniffles, before turning and burying his face in Katsuki’s chest, wrapping his arms around him, and Katsuki resigns himself to comforting Izuku for most of the evening until they can figure out what just happened.

~

It takes Izuku a few minutes to calm down, and then even longer to get his thoughts in order. Katsuki is a balm to his nerves, content to sit still with him for a little while and play with his hair despite how annoyed he was at being interrupted earlier (Izuku knows Katsuki likes how soft his hair is, like to run his fingers through it, and Izuku likes it too). But Katsuki can’t sit with him forever, so he needs to think about _ it _.

Even though _ it _was weird and kind of scary, it also felt… nice. Or, something like that. Izuku can’t think of a word to describe something so new and strange, but he wants to know, wants to know lots of things so he can always think of what to say. But the most important thing is that he’s decided he liked whatever it was, and now he wants to know how it happened, and maybe… maybe do it again. It’s a part of his gem, and even though it was weird, it’s okay to embrace that, right? He wants to think it is. 

“Kacchan?” Izuku says, voice a little hoarse from his earlier crying, still tucked into Katsuki’s chest.

“What?” Katsuki is being gentle, for him at least, even though he must still be annoyed, and he hasn’t stopped petting Izuku’s hair, so that’s a good sign. Steeling himself, Izuku takes a deep breath and pulls away so he can look Katsuki in the eyes. 

“I-.... I want to do that again. If it’s… ok…” Izuku trails off weakly, cowed by the strange expression overcoming Katsuki’s face, confusion mixed with something else. He quickly starts up again, wanting desperately to explain himself so his friend doesn’t get the wrong idea about _ whatever _ it is he’s even suggesting. “I just!! I thought i-if we try it again, maybe- maybe I can have an easier time asking Mom about it! And I… I think it felt really nice. It felt like we were holding hands, but in our heads too, and I… I liked it.” Izuku fiddles with his shirt, tugging on the collar, and he’s really gonna start crying again if Katsuki doesn’t say something soon. 

Just as he feels the tears start to prick at his eyes, Katsuki scoffs and punches him in the arm, as if he wasn’t debating his answer just as long. “What are you even talking about, Izu? Of course I’m gonna help you practice with your dumb quirk! Who else would you trust to help you get any good at it?” Katsuki sounds confident like he always does, but there’s a note of something wobbly in his voice that Izuku can’t recognize. Still, relief washes over him, palpable, and he starts crying anyway just from the weight of it, pulling Katsuki into a hug.

“Ugh, stop being so emotional about everything, Izu, it’s gross.”

“I can’t h-help it! I’m so h-happy you’re my friend, Kacchan!”

“You better be.” Katsuki’s grumbling is half-hearted at best given how tightly he’s squeezing Izuku back, but of course he won’t admit that. It doesn’t matter though, Izuku is just so happy he’s here. The radio is still humming in the background, playing something instrumental that Izuku doesn’t recognize, but it sounds nice. He pulls back from Katsuki with a smile, laughing as Katsuki pulls up one of his blankets to wipe Izuku’s face. He feels good-- drained from his outburst, but content. He sways a bit to the music, before the thought occurs to him, and he catches Katsuki’s hands and looks into his eyes. 

“Can we try again now?” He says, maybe a little pleading and a lot excited. Katsuki huffs, but nods, following Izuku off the bed so he can pull them into the middle of the room again, practically shaking with nervous energy. The song is still more mellow than the first one they danced to, less upbeat, but it’s pretty, and Izuku can tell Katsuki likes the music too because his usual pinched expression has smoothed out just a bit. 

“Let’s try, um, slower, this time. To see what will- what happens.” Izuku says gently, still holding Katsuki’s hands. He’s threaded their fingers together like he’s seen in movies and with people walking on the street, and maybe this isn’t such a good idea, because Katsuki is getting all pinched again, but it must be fine since he doesn’t pull away. Izuku looks at him again, pulls one of Katsuki’s hands up to his face waiting for confirmation, until Katsuki nods tightly, cheeks pink, and Izuku beams.

They start slow, like he asked, just swaying together in the middle of the room. Izuku feels something warm unfurl in his chest, blooming out until there’s a tingling in all his limbs and he couldn’t stop smiling if he wanted to. Katsuki is still pinched, but he doesn’t try and stop them, and he’s squeezing Izuku’s hands, which must be a good sign. They stay like that for a while, dancing slowly to the music, until Izuku feels warmth spreading through him fit to burst, and he leans forward and rests his head on Katsuki’s shoulder. He feels so warm, and content, and there’s that sensation again, that pull as the warmth draws itself back into his core at the same time as his form wobbles and then he’s… he’s them, again.

Now that it’s not such a surprise, he can actually take stock of what’s happening. He feels Katsuki’s surprise confusion contentment (it was nice, dancing with Izuku, he’s so soft sometimes that he can’t be anything but nice), feels Izuku’s excitement worry warmth (Katsuki is so good, he trusts him so much, this is so exciting but he can’t hurt Katsuki with this he can’t won’t) and it takes him a while to sort everything out, one being coming from too. But things settle, and he gets up and looks in the mirror, to verify what he felt before. His hair is a warm blonde with dark green roots (like a sunflower, Izuku thinks, so pretty), and his eyes really are green and red. He’s got less curls than Izuku and less frizz than Katsuki, and he thinks the combination is nice, like his eyes. He wants to show Auntie-What would Mom think of this? And he pauses, several expressions flitting over his face at once. 

His lower pair of eyes, green ones, open up a little wider, and he says, voice soft and a little worried, “Do you really think we can just… just show her? What if it’s not… okay, to stay like this?” 

His red pair of eyes roll, looking unimpressed. “Of course it’s okay, it’s part of your quirk! A part that we seem to be fucking mastering here! We have to show Auntie how far you got now.”

“Kacchan, no bad words!” He hisses, voice pained.

“Let’s just go show her, Izu! I wanna show off how much I’m helping you with your quirk. Auntie will be proud of us for figuring it out on our own!” 

His green eyes squint as his mouth pulls up into a worried expression, and he debates it for a moment, before deciding that he really is too happy to see the harm. Of course Mom will be proud of him! This is so cool! At that thought, his whole face brightens up and he smiles, taking notice of his sharper teeth, before he opens his door and runs to the stairs. Mom is usually reading in the living room right now, so hopefully she’s not busy. 

He trips outside his room, legs longer than he’s used to, and he has to slow down, figuring out how to run without stumbling, so that he can take the steps two at a time to the living room. Predictably, Inko is sitting on the couch, reading a book and sipping a mug full of tea, and she looks up when he-they enter the room, a smile on her face before her eyes go wide. She fumbles to set down the tea without spilling it, and her book falls to the floor. 

“Mom! Auntie!” He runs over to her, marveling at how _ small _ everything seems now-- he’s taller than her, and all four of his eyes lock onto hers as he beams. “Look what we did, Auntie! We figured out Izu’s quirk!” His voice is deeper than either Katsuki or Izuku, rough at times but still soft and gentle overall. Inko can only stare at him, hands shaking as she raises one up to touch his chest, and he starts to worry that something is wrong. 

“Mom?” There’s a note of fear in his voice, and he feels his whole body wobble just a bit. Inko starts like she only just realized what was happening, and she wraps her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. 

“Oh, Izuku, Katsuki! I had no idea you could even-- I was just so shocked, I didn’t think it was possible for you to fuse! I’m so- I’m so proud of you, both of you.” Her voice is wobbly and uneven, and tears prick at the corners of her eyes. He hugs her back just as fiercely, his green eyes already gushing tears while his red eyes look a little wet despite their squinting. He feels fiercely triumphant proud happy, a heady mix of approval and elation swirling around his emotions. 

He holds onto Inko for however long it takes for him to stop crying (too long, knowing Izuku), and then he’s pulling away, still giddy with how much taller he is now. It’s so _ different _. Inko looks up at him, face still wet where she had shed a few of her own tears, and her expression is calmer now, but not without worry. He pauses at that, confusion flitting through him, and Inko hurries to reassure him when she sees it. 

“Sweetie, I’m sorry, this is just all- it’s very surprising, is what I mean. I wasn’t expecting you to be able to… do this. Be able to fuse. Especially with Katsuki!” Her voice is light but there’s an edge to it, no doubt from her uncertainty. 

He picks up on it, and gives her another squeeze for comfort. “Can you tell us what it is, first? Fusing? And- and why you didn’t think Izuku could do it?”

Inko nods and her expression softens, losing some of that edge of worry. She leads them all to the couch to sit-- she doesn’t want to be standing around for what will absolutely be an in-depth explanation. But first-- “Izuku, Katsuki, dears, have you decided on a name yet? For… you together? I can imagine you’ll want to be able to call yourself something.”

He blinks, completely caught off guard. No, he doesn’t have a name, does he? Katsuki-Izuku is ungainly (Izuku giggles at how Katsuki automatically puts himself first, but he would too), but since he’s a fusion, a mix, maybe something like…

“Ah... Kizuku? That sounds like a nice name. And it’s a mix of both of them, just like I am.” Yeah… Yeah! Having a name feels great. Kizuku beams down at Inko, four eyes bright. She smiles right back and pats him gently on the arm, still marvelling at how much her son and his friend can accomplish together. 

“Kizuku is a very nice name, dear. Now, what I mean by fusion is… Ah. Well. Remember how I told you that there are other… people, with gems like you, sweetheart? People like your mother? Well, they can fuse too. But only with other people that also have gems, does that make sense? Emerald, she,” and Inko’s voice feels weak, but she continues despite the difficulty, “she tried to fuse with me once, but it didn’t work. Not like it did with you and Katsuki.” And oh, that’s why she didn’t tell him before, about this power-- because Mom _ couldn’t _ know what it was like. Kizuku leans down to give her another hug, feeling more tears come to him as he thinks about how much she really lost, when Emerald died. 

Inko takes a stabilizing breath, leaning into the hug as he gives her a moment to think, to push back some of the memories. Finally, she leans back, smiling softly. “I’m very surprised, but I’m also very proud of you both. Your mother told me about how fusion is a very special moment for two people to connect, and it’s very… you only want to fuse with people you love and trust very much, okay Izuku?” She takes his hands into hers and squeezes them, willing them to get the point across. “Fusion is very special, and you’ll know the person you’re fusing with very deeply, so you both need to trust each other very much. Do you feel loved and trusted, Kizuku?”

Again, that throws him, and Kizuku has to stop for a long moment to consider the answer. He feels-- he feels happy and worried and excited and maybe a little bit sad (he doesn’t like seeing the look on Mom’s face when she talks about Emerald, he doesn’t know how he can miss so fiercely someone he didn’t even get to meet) but he doesn’t feel _ bad _ , to be himself, to be this. It feels nice, feels safe and secure. 

“I do, Mom. I do feel safe. It’s like…” And really, this is where it’s hard. To even _ describe _ what he feels is such a struggle; he doesn’t know if he has the words. Still, he pushes on, determined to help her understand what it’s like when she so obviously feels bad about never having been able to do it with Emerald. “It’s- it’s warm, secure. I feel… it feels like trust, I think? It feels like we fit together really well, in a way that doesn’t make sense. I don’t think I’m really, two or- or both of them. They have different thoughts, sometimes, but I feel like I’m just… me, right now. We think together, and that’s me-- that’s, um, Kizuku.” It’s the best he can manage, but Inko smiles softly at him anyway, so he must be doing well. It makes a big bright burst of happiness fill him up all over again, and he can’t help but hug her, sniffling. 

“I’m really-- we’re really happy. Promise.” Inko hugs him just as tightly, rubbing his back, and it’s the truth, overwhelming as it may be. Finally, Kizuku pulls back, green eyes wet (and how his red eyes roll at that) and face scrunched up with the force of his grin. 

“Can I- can we go out and play? Just for a little bit? Katsuki wants to see how high we can get on the swings now that we’re so tall!” It feels a little weird, saying “I” and “we,” but he’s technically asking permission for them to do something _ together, _ so “we” feels appropriate. Plus, it was Katsuki’s idea. He also wants to test out using his explosion quirk, but Mom doesn’t have to know about that. Izuku and Katsuki both know he’s really good at controlling it now, and Kizuku is confident that he can handle it. 

Inko looks unsure at that, glancing at the door and back at Kizuku, before she wilts under the force of his pleading eyes. “All right, Kizuku- but you have to be back well before dinner, all right? Otherwise, no more fusing for a long time. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.” Kizuku jumps up and punches the air triumphantly, nodding quickly before dashing up the stairs to get his bag. He comes back down just as quickly, barefoot but excited, and he runs out the door, waving behind himself as he does. 

“Be back soon, love you Mom, Auntie!” Inko smiles after him, feeling something tight in her relax. They’ll be fine. If there’s one thing she can be sure of, it’s that those two protect each other more fiercely than maybe even they realize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect much more fusion in the future. Kizuku is gonna be showing up a lot! I did write this fic primarily because I love to explore relationships through something as intimate as fusing-- it's powerful, to have the ability to just choose to become so close to your best friends, the ones you love, etc. Fusion is such a unique and beautiful concept, and I just love writing about it. What fusions do you guys want to see in the future? I have a few planned, but please, weigh in!
> 
> Also, no deku. They both just have sickeningly cute nicknames for each other instead


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku and Katsuki fuse sometimes. Some of the other kids don't like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for the start of The Drama. Soon, this fic will have actual stakes :p

Really, Inko doesn’t need to worry. Izuku and Katsuki have always worked well together, Izuku the balm to some of Katsuki’s more fiery ideas and Katsuki a confidence booster Izuku can often need. They work in tandem, inspiring each other and competing to see who can be the best. It’s ridiculously sweet, is what it is. They fly through middle school, both the top of their class (switching out who manages to get first), as Izuku continues to practice fusing with Katsuki. How can he not? It’s his power, and he needs to learn to control it! He’s twelve now, and the other kids (especially Katsuki) are so good with their quirks that he can’t help the need to practice with his power. They’ve gotten quite good, over the years; Kizuku has become remarkably stable. They can stay together for hours and, finding out over the course of one experimental weekend, even days. It’s good, to feel like he’s progressing. Katsuki will agree in his own way, punching Izuku’s arm and calling him emotional, but he’s just as proud. Just, a little different about showing it. 

Izuku feels good about the way things are, right now. His anxiety is becoming more of a problem (he has attacks more and more, he doesn’t even know why!), but he always has Katsuki there to help him calm down. Sometimes, when they’re really bad, they’ll fuse, and then Katsuki can calm him down in his head, force him to take deep breaths and focus on something other than whatever caused his panic. It’s such a relief to have someone he can trust with so much, that will help him even with the stuff Izuku knows Katsuki thinks is “gooey emotional crap.” Maybe he’s right, too. Even thinking about this stuff makes Izuku feel a little teary-eyed, and he laughs weakly, wiping at his eyes. Seriously, what even is there to cry about? He’s thinking happy thoughts! Izuku will never understand how his brain works.

With a yawn, Izuku finally stretches and drags himself out of bed. It’s a Monday, and he woke up early for a reason-- getting in some extra hero, and especially gem, research. His mom explained a lot to him, about how gems are aliens that came to Earth a long time ago and mostly keep to themselves, but that’s not enough! He wants to know what they can do, what the rules are, so he can learn more about why he does what he does and what it all means. He knows his other mom had gloves she could summon, and from what little he knows, every gem can summon some sort of tool, but that’s frighteningly little information. He needs order, a system, something to organize his life by. He can’t drop his experiences into neat little categories like he can heroes and quirks because he doesn’t  _ know _ enough to even make any categories. The most he knows about gems is that they’re aliens, they can fuse, they don’t age, and they can only die if their gem is destroyed or they… or they pass it on to their human offspring. That’s too little given how long gems have apparently been on Earth. Which is why his search is so frustrating-- gems don’t really  _ interact _ with human society, and they certainly don’t post anything online. Most people don’t even know they exist at all. So the only things he knows is what he can gather from his mom’s videos and people talking about gems they’ve run into online, and he probably doesn’t need to emphasize how rare that is (or how much information he misses because they’ll just pass off gems as people with quirks instead of, well,  _ aliens _ ).

Today’s search is no better, and Izuku doesn’t turn up anything new. He let’s himself have a moment of quiet, staring at the wall behind his computer and despairing over the fact that he knows so  _ little _ that it physically aches. He just wants to feel like… like he has a place, sometimes. He wants to understand what he is and why he’s here. But he doesn’t, and he can’t, so he just has to keep going. Taking a deep breath, Izuku focuses back on hero news, and he manages a small smile. At least he can still be passionate about something he does know a lot about.

The rest of his early morning passes in relative ease, Izuku paging through hero-news websites and jotting notes in one of his many hero journals. A lot went down last night, he regrets not being able to chase a few of those fights (not that he’d let Mom know that’s what he gets up to, sometimes). It’s calming in its repetition, and by the time Mom comes up to get him for breakfast Izuku had forgotten what made him anxious in the first place. 

Katsuki is already sitting down at the table, and Izuku beams at him as he comes down the stairs. Auntie Bakugou knows how much he and Katsuki like to walk to school together, and sometimes she lets Katsuki come over early for breakfast. Those are his favorite days-- it means he gets a head start talking about heroes with Katsuki!

“Hi Kacchan!” Izuku says brightly, pulling out the chair next to Katsuki and sitting down. Mom puts a plate of pancakes in front of him, and he thanks her before digging in. Mom makes the best pancakes, the really fluffy kind that are still a little chewy, just the way he likes. Katsuki is doing a remarkable job stuffing his face without making a mess, but Izuku eats his pancakes a bit more slowly, rolling his eyes at his friend. 

After Katsuki manages to swallow a truly enormous mouthful, he looks at Izuku and puts his chin into his hands, elbows propped up on the table. He waits a bit for Izuku to finish too, glaring at him when he takes longer than Katsuki deems necessary (which is no less than breakneck speed, so no-thank-you) and smirking triumphantly when Izuku puts his fork down with a huff.

“So, Izu, Auntie says you were up early today. Got anything to show for it?” His tone is light, but Izuku can tell that Katsuki is still plenty interested, and he appreciates how much of a stake he puts into Izuku’s research. Still, he can only manage a sigh and a shake of his head. 

“Nothing else on gems today, Kacchan.” He says, a little forlorn. Then he perks up again, switching topics. “But I did get to look into more hero work! Kamui Woods did a rescue mission last night, and the interesting thing is that the building coming down MUST have weighed at least several thousand tons…” Breakfast continues like that, Izuku talking animatedly about his research while Katsuki nods along or provides his own insight. It’s a strengthening routine, gives Izuku a base to get through the day, and he’s bright and cheery as they get ready to leave for school.    


“Wanna walk to school separate or together?” Katsuki says. Izuku hums, still busy tying his shoes.    


“Well, if we go together we’re gonna have to make sure our homework doesn’t get mixed up again. Remember last time? I was turning in sheets with your name on them for two days!”

Katsuki huffs and elbows him as he stands up. “That’s still not an answer, dork.” 

He just laughs and nods his head. “Fine, fine. I wanna fuse. It’s more fun walking  _ together  _ together anyway.” When he finishes talking, Izuku holds out his hand, which Katsuki takes readily and laces their fingers together. He pulls Katsuki a little closer so they touch arm to arm, feeling the familiar warmth overtake them as they fuse. 

Kizuku shakes his head, ruffling his hair even more than it already is, and opens the door to head out. “Have a good rest of your day Mom, Auntie! I’m- er, we’re gonna go to the park after school, okay?” He hears Inko give her assent, and then he’s out the door, jogging at a steady pace. It’s somehow easier to run as Kizuku than separately. It’s probably because of the energy his gem gives him, but he doesn’t really know for sure. School is a twenty minute walk away, fifteen when he jogs, and it’s pleasantly warm with just a little breeze. It’s going to be a nice day today.

Kizuku comes up to school only a little sweaty, but ultimately refreshed from his run. He likes to stay fused until school actually starts, so he has time to get a drink and make sure he hasn’t lost any homework on the way here (maybe he’s being paranoid, but it’s bound to happen if he doesn’t make sure). People don’t really acknowledge him-- a tall kid with four eyes isn’t  _ that _ remarkable in a world full of quirks-- but some of the kids from his class notice him, and give him an awkward wave. It feels like they don’t know what to think of him, which is weird in its own right. Like, seriously, there’s a guy out there whose quirk is that his head is a cactus. Is fusion really that uncomfortable, considering? Well, whatever. It’s not like Kizuku has to acknowledge any of that. Even the kids that balk at him when he walks into their classroom aren’t worth his time. They have such stupid quirks anyway, how do they get off making fun of people with actually VALUABLE quirks and Gosh Kacchan, you don’t have to be mean, I don’t like it either but we can deal with it and-- and he pauses, mouth pinched over his internal struggle. Kizuku is stable, yes, but sometimes Katsuki and Izuku can get so emotional over something that they… fall a bit out of sync. But it’s fine-- it wasn’t an argument they haven’t already had, and they need to unfuse anyway. Class will start soon. 

With a quiet sound, Izuku and Katsuki come unfused, and Izuku gives Katsuki a reassuring pat on the cheek. They’re still holding hands, and maybe that gets them looks for an entirely different reason, but Izuku doesn’t really care. His anxiety can be… overwhelming at times, but he has  _ never _ felt unsafe around Katsuki.

“Need help calming down, Kacchan, or are you ok now?” He says softly, and Katsuki just shakes his head and squeezes their joined hands, before pulling away to go rummaging through his backpack. Izuku nods and does the same, conceding to the distraction. It wasn’t that bad-- they really are used to this. He digs around his bag for a bit before letting out a wicked little “Ah hah!” and smugly presenting Katsuki with a report. “Bakugou Katsuki” is penned harshly at the top of the paper, and said individual fixes Izuku with an unimpressed stare. 

“I told you it wasn’t my fault! It just gets a little mixed up on its own.”

“Yeah, well, who even cares Izu, just gimme back my homework. I don’t have any of yours anyway.” When Izuku holds it out to him he just grabs it and bats Izuku affectionately on the arm, and they both manage to stop fooling around and have everything in order when class actually starts. 

Class is easy for them, really. Two fiercely competitive, intelligent kids are mostly going to have a problem not being  _ bored _ some days. Even though it can be a drag, Izuku still pays close attention and asks lots of questions-- his brain just likes to go through things thoroughly, always thinking of different applications for the material or new ways to frame an idea. It’s probably why he’s so good at understanding and categorizing quirks; being a hero means having an analytical mind will be an asset. Annoying his classmates is  _ technically _ him training to be a hero. He’s sure they’d understand if they knew the context, and maybe they wouldn’t groan so much when he opens his mouth.

Regardless of his abysmal popularity, school goes quickly. Auntie Bakugou packed them both lunch, and Izuku always has to eat his slowly, because she makes curry that tastes amazing but makes his eyes water. Katsuki, still apparently immune to spiciness, just hits him and calls him a wuss, dumping even more hot sauce on his curry, the demon. Actually, that makes Izuku consider something. He pulls out his backpack, digging through his notebooks until he lands on “Gem Notes Vol. 03” and flips it open to the first blank page

“I know we’ve eaten when we’re fused before, but do you think your threshold for spicy foods would also carry over? Or that it would be split evenly between us?” As he talks he jots down notes and experiment ideas, pausing only to nurse his milk. He really does have a low heat threshold. Katsuki snorts, obviously making fun of his need for milk, before he pauses and hums, considering. 

“Well I guess we already know taste stays the same when we’re fused, but hot stuff doesn’t really have a  _ taste _ , it’s about chemicals activating the sensors in your mouth that register the feeling of heat.” At this Katsuki very pointedly takes a bite of his curry, smirking at him while he just huffs and drinks his milk. Katsuki laughs at him again before his expression smooths out, thoughtful. “But, really, I think the reason some people can eat hotter stuff and not feel bad is because they’re not as sensitive to the chemical-- capsaicin, I think-- because they eat spicy stuff a lot. So it would probably be a split sensitivity, between us. Since you’re so  _ obviously _ a sensitive baby, inside and out.”

Izuku sticks his tongue out at Katsuki and moves to punch his arm, but Katsuki ducks quickly out of the way. He wants to pout, but Katsuki looks pretty happy when he’s being all smug and dumb, so he doesn’t even bother, just takes another bite of curry and washes it down with milk. 

“I think you’re right, but it’d still be fun to test it. We’re going to the park after school to do more quirk stuff, right?” Because even when they’re fused, sometimes they have different reasons for thinking the same thing, so he wants to make sure they’re on the same page. Katsuki nods, scarfing down the rest of his lunch, while Izuku packs up his leftovers for later. They could’ve fused right then, but it would have been disruptive, and Izuku doesn’t like pulling all of that attention to himself. He can handle it, sort of, but he doesn’t  _ like _ it. 

The rest of the school day passes much the same, though-- is Izuku imagining it, or are they getting more dirty looks than usual? It feels like the three kids that sit behind him and Katsuki are glaring at them a lot, but he can’t really be sure. It would be weird for that to be the case, right? So Izuku just ignores it, and keeps arguing about quirk theory with Katsuki. After school, Izuku is eager to fuse again-- he always loves testing out new theories and finding out more and more about Kizuku’s powers. It’s comforting in its own way, to be able to observe and document an aspect of himself that has been so elusive in so many ways. But he’s also a bit paranoid about all the notice they garnered today, so as they’re leaving, Izuku grabs Katsuki’s hand and pulls them farther from the entrance than they’d usually walk. Katsuki gives him a questioning look, and Izuku ducks his head, embarrassed.

“Hey, um, just to be sure, let’s fuse a little bit away from school today, okay?” Izuku says quietly, squeezing Katsuki’s hand. “There were some kids glaring at us and it was… it was uncomfortable. I know you say I’m too paranoid for my own good but I jus-” Katsuki cuts him off with a huff and a roll of his eyes, squeezing Izuku’s hand back.

“Stop yammering Izu, I get it. We can go a little farther to fuse, I don’t care. We’re going to the park either way, aren’t we? Doesn’t matter how we get there.” His tone is callous but his eyes are kind, and Izuku gives him a quick little hug before pulling them in the direction of the park, taking a longer route than usual. 

About halfway to their destination, Izuku stops them by a tree, checking behind and around them. There’s a few kids sitting at the bench across the street, but they’re far enough away that it doesn’t even register. Katsuki huffs at the wait, tugging on Izuku’s hand. “Oh, just do it already, Izu! It’s not like we’re being followed, that’d be fuckin’ stupid.”

“Kacchan, language! But I-... I guess you’re right. It was silly. Sorry about being so, um, annoying.” 

“Just shut up and c’mere.” Laughing weakly, Izuku laces their fingers together, leaning towards Katsuki and just, fusing. It gets easier and easier, to just fall together into Kizuku. And it doesn’t stop being so… so nice. 

Smiling fondly, Kizuku does a quick set of stretches, hearing some of his joints pop after the combined stress of two boys sitting in classes all day. “Aw, hell.” He mutters, wincing, but then he’s feeling good and ready to run. They already walked so much of the way that the park is probably only 10 minutes more jogging, and Kizuku is happy for the workout after all that sitting. 

The weather is nice for a run, maybe a little windier than it had been that morning, but still warm enough to be pleasant. The park itself doesn’t see very much activity, which is why he likes it so much-- even with all the families in this neighborhood, most of them go to a park that’s a bit closer and fancier, so Kizuku (and Katsuki and Izuku, when they come separately) can find some peace and quiet here. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kizuku collapses against a tree with a contented sigh, tossing his bag next to him as he does. He takes the moment of calm to just lean back and close his eyes, letting the shade cool him off. It’s nice, too, to just listen to the rustling of the leaves and grass-- it’s such a smooth, repetitive sound, he can’t help but find peace in it. 

He doesn’t really know how long he sits there (he might have nodded off for a bit) before he’s being startled awake by a harsh jab to his side. All four of his eyes snap open, and he shoots up to his feet, instinctively shying away from the touch. It takes him a moment to process his surroundings, but he finally registers what’s in front of him. The three boys from his class, who had been bothering Izuku all day. Oh, shit.

“I- I can’t believe you actually followed me- followed us!! That’s so creepy, don’t you have anything better to do?!” Kizuku can’t help the shrill, angry note that penetrates his voice-- he’s surprised and really really mad that his suspicions were correct, because that’s just gross! What the hell! The kid that poked him (shoulder length spiky hair and forearms that can extend a minimum of 2 feet by observation, max unknown, and he would feel bad about forgetting his name if Kizuku wasn’t currently being harassed by him) sneers at him, grinning harsh and mean. 

“We were comin' to the park anyway when we saw you two doing your  _ gross _ fuckin’ thing on the street across from us. It’s disgusting, how people just keep lettin’ you two walk around like  _ that _ .” He says, pushing them this time, forcing Kizuku to press his back even harder against the tree. It’s starting to hurt, now, and his hands are already scraped after scrabbling to grab purchase against the bark. Something in him turns white hot and angry, then, and he can feel his right hand lifting up, already sparking with miniature explosions, before he grabs it with his left and forces it down. He can’t hurt them-- they’d only have more reason to hate them. But he has to fight back! He can’t just fucking take this from these goddamn losers, can he? They’re just  _ kids _ , they don’t know what they mean- fuck them! They’re trying to hurt us, we can’t-we can’t just- Oh god, it’s- it’s happening again. Kizuku can feel his face twisting in a painful grimace, and he shakes with the effort to hold his right arm down.

The one to the arm-kid’s left laughs, elbowing his friend. “See, they’re like-- they’re arguing or something on the inside. What is it, trouble in paradise? This kind of thing isn't natural, two kids in the same body."

“Why do you,” Kizuku manages to grit out, burning with  _ something _ still, fury and fear mixed in the worst way, “even care? I’m- we’re not, hurting anybody. People have weirder quirks.”

“That’s the whole point, is quirks.” Arm-kid says, moving to jab him again and laughing when his whole body flinches. “Bakugou has the coolest quirk in the school, and he still hangs out with a  _ loser _ like Midoriya.” Kizuku glares, right hand setting off explosions even as he still has it pressed painfully tight against the tree. We can’t hurt them Kacchan, it would be too much, you know that, we know that- 

“And Midoriya, he’s got the worst quirk,” Arm-kid continues, oblivious to Kizuku’s internal struggle or just uncaring, “because he uses his quirk to be fuckin' weird.  You think we don’t notice how you guys are always holding hands, and you do it to turn into that- thing? You're so attached, you fucking merge into one person, it's not right! You need to stop.” Arm-kid waves a hand idly at him, gesturing to Kizuku as a whole. “Hell, Bakugou could probably get his reputation back, but then again, hanging out with Midoriya turned him into a fucking loser so I don’t-” And just like that Kizuku snaps, uncoiling like a broken spring, lashing out with his fist and catching the kid right in the cheek. Distantly, like a dream, he knows that he felt his gem glow, felt something fold around his hands, and he knows there were no explosions. Just his fist tearing into the kids jaw, and then he hears something crack as the kid’s head snaps to the side and he goes flying, landing on his back in the grass right as he lets out a scream. 

“Don’t you  _ fucking _ talk about him like that.” He says over the noise, and it’s blinding, the white-hot fury that keeps his hands in painfully tight fists, and he knows he’s breathing hard and practically snarling, but he doesn’t care, he’s just so  _ angry _ . “Don’t you  _ ever _ fucking talk about him like that, I’ll fucking  _ kill _ you.” His head snaps to glare at the two kids still standing, and he bares his teeth (they’re sharp, he knows they’re sharp enough to make them afraid), growling, “get the FUCK out of here!” They turn, scrambling back, picking up their friend as they go, who looks mostly like he got punched in the face, not like he broke anything. Probably. Kizuku doesn’t really care right now, can’t care. It’s the most he can do to hold himself back from going after them, but he knows he would cause real damage, and that would be… that would be- oh, shit, what did he just do. 

“Ooooh my god, I just punched someone!” Fretfully, Kizuku is bringing his hands up to tug at his hair when he finally registers what’s on them. Two gloves, cut off at the first joint of each finger, with padding across the knuckles and backs. They’re a deep emerald green, darkest on the padding and lighter for the rest of the material, and when he turns them over the palms are open and rimmed in red. Kizuku lets out an incredibly undignified squeak as soon as the realization hits him and his form wobbles and splits apart, launching the two boys into the grass. Izuku just gets up, laughing, giddy with surprise and excitement that completely blocks out what had happened before. 

“I- I summoned my weapon! Kacchan, I summoned my weapon!!! They’re- gloves!” Still shaking with excitement, Izuku holds out his hands. The gloves are gone, now, but if he just focuses, now that he knows they’re there... His gem glows, and he feels the same warmth wrap around his hands, and he might have screamed a little, but who could blame him? “Kacchan, look!! They’re fighting gloves!” Izuku flaps his hands, shaking and bouncing with excitement. He notices, a little absently, that the opening on the palms and the red rimming is gone, but he’ll have to look into that later. 

Katsuki, meanwhile, is picking himself up off the ground and shaking his head, adjusting to the sudden unfusing. He looks up at Izuku, who’s still wiggling and bouncing around excitedly, and smiles faintly, before letting out a put-upon sigh. “Yeah, Izu, we’re all very proud of you, blah blah. Hey though, how come you wouldn’t let me blast the guy but it was ok for YOU to take the reigns and punch him in the face? It was a pretty solid punch, but that seems hypocritical.” And just like that, the events of the last few minutes wash over Izuku again, and he lets out a quiet little noise of distress. His gloves disappear again so he can put his face in his hands and fall back onto the grass. 

“Oh my god, I punched someone. I can’t believe I just did that!” He’s curled up with his knees tucked into his chest, eyes wide and full of a truly unreasonable amount of horror. Katsuki takes one look at his sorry state and promptly starts laughing at him. Izuku lifts his head up enough to glare. “It’s not funny! We just- I just- punching people is bad!” His voice falls off into a whine, and he winces at how pathetic he sounds. He really does act like a baby sometimes.

Katsuki just snorts and stands up, going over to put a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Cheer up, Izu-- least we know you’ll have one hell of a right hook when you’re actually fighting villains instead of middle school idiots.” At Izuku’s withering look Katsuki just laughs at him some more, before his expression softens. “I’m serious though, Izu. It’s fine. They were being assholes, and they totally provoked us. You didn’t even hurt the kid that bad. It’s gonna be fine.” The last statement is said in a soothing tone of voice, Katsuki rubbing a hand over Izuku’s back to try and get him to relax. Hesitantly, Izuku uncurls, hanging his head and fiddling with his hands. His knuckles hurt, just a little, he just noticed. 

“I-... I guess you’re right. It’s not like they can tell on us without admitting to following us in the first place, which would definitely incriminate them.” Katsuki rolls his eyes and nods, wrapping and arm around Izuku’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug. 

“See, you should listen to me more! I’m obviously the voice of reason here most of the time, 'specially around an idiot like you.” Izuku shoves him, laughing, some of the tension draining from his face.

“Shut up, you always suggest blowing stuff up as the first solution! Voice of reason- like hell!” Katsuki laughs, ducking out of the way of another one of Izuku’s jabs, and he scrambles up to give chase. Their original plans for the park are long forgotten, but finding out something new about himself is enough, and knowing Katsuki really would protect him from anything (and he would protect  _ Katsuki _ ) warms him in an entirely different way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Kizuku, and finally, Izuku summons his weapon! My reckless boy was literally born to punch, and I for one support him. Next chapter will finally introduce All Might, and catch us up to canon!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hero training begins, followed by a few very fateful encounters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get readyyyyyyyy (also, trigger warning for mentions of suffocation, if you'd like to skip stop reading at "His route is quiet since..." and start up again at " 'Whatever the hell that was kid' ")

After finding out about his gem weapon (better than calling them “magic punching gloves,” which was somehow Katsuki’s first choice. He’s kind of bad with names) and getting into what can only charitably be called a “fight,” Izuku starts to shift his priorities. So much of his time has been spent just _ studying _ heroes and their quirks and fighting style instead of actually learning how to _ do _ some of those things. He needs to be able to run for long periods to give chase after a villain, and lift heavy objects off of people that might be trapped. He’s been completely ignoring the physical aspect of becoming a hero, and it’s a mistake he won’t make for much longer.

A week after Kizuku’s “fight” with the other kids from school-- and even if Izuku regrets being so violent towards civilians, it’s still deeply satisfying to see them shy away when Kizuku comes to school-- Katsuki is staying over for dinner. As soon as they finish eating, Izuku rushes out a goodbye to his mom and pulls Katsuki straight to his room, sitting him on the bed for an Important Conversation. 

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at how high-strung he is, leaning casually back against the headrest. “So where’s the fire, Izu? Who’s got your boxers in a twist?” He says. Izuku huffs and crosses his arms before sucking in a deep breath.

“This is important, Kacchan! It’s about- the fight, and my gem weapon.” Katsuki tilts his head in interest, letting him go on. He does, rubbing the sides of his arms a little as he feels anxiety crawl up his throat.

“I just- I realized that, that I’ve been doing nothing to train to be able to fight_ . _ Sure, we didn’t really _ fight _ those kids, but that’s something that I’m gonna need to be able to do as a hero! I have gloves to protect my hands from _ punching _ people, to use them I need to be able to throw a punch in the first place! I don’t even exercise very much, so I’m probably not very strong, and I know I can’t run for very long without getting really tired on my own. I just think we need- we need to do something about that. Training!” Izuku finishes quickly looking at Katsuki for approval and feeling his nerves wrack up as Katsuki just sits there for a long moment, an intensely concentrated expression on his face. Izuku is just about to say something more when Katsuki explodes into action, jumping up to stand on top of the bed and wave his arms around furiously.

“Oh my fucking god you’re right! What the hell have we even been doing until now?! I know my quirk is amazing, and yours is too, especially combined with me, but how am I supposed to knock the teeth out of a villains face if I’m not fucking _ ripped _??!!” Katsuki punctuates his outburst with two small explosions from each hand and a yell, jumping off the bed and grabbing onto Izuku’s shoulders. Izuku is a little shaken from it but he manages a wobbly smile, comforted by Katsuki’s enthusiasm. It’s nice to get swept up in his energy sometimes.

“We have to start training right now.” Katsuki says emphatically, giving Izuku’s shoulders a squeeze. “No more fucking around. How the hell are we gonna get into UA together if we aren’t ready-- and what’s even the point if we don’t show them that we’re the strongest in the whole class??!” Izuku feels a little dizzy from the sheer energy Katsuki can put off, but he nods his head just as excitedly, gripping Katsuki’s arms and squeezing in response. Katsuki hums in approval, before steering them towards Izuku’s desk and depositing him in front of the computer. 

“Ok, now, I’m gonna put you on nerd-shit duty. You’re gonna research workout routines and diets for people trying to gain more muscle, and _ I’m _ gonna go ask Auntie and Mom about letting us stay out longer after school to train. I think I have an idea about where we can start, but I’m gonna have to check on that too.”

Katsuki gives his shoulders one last squeeze before making for the door, giving Izuku a mock salute as he leaves. Izuku can’t help but laugh a little at just how quickly Katsuki likes to start things, but he will admit to the validity of the plan. It makes sense for them to split up research, and Katsuki obviously already has something in mind, so it’s perfect. Stretching his arms above his head, Izuku cracks his knuckles and gets to work.

It’s a familiar routine to fall into, and Izuku does so easily, until he’s compiled a nicely detailed document with extensive references. He decided to also include some basic safety training stuff, and he’ll suggest they take some first-aid classes later, when they’re available. For the diet, they’re going to have to start eating more vegetables and protein, and drinking an absolute ocean of water, but all of it is feasible for them to do together. It’s been about 3 hours since Katsuki left, and Izuku is just formatting his citations (Katsuki really was right to give him the “nerd shit”) when Katsuki bursts in, looking triumphant as ever. 

“I,” Katsuki starts, holding up two plastic cards, “got us passes for a local gym. It’s like 30 minutes away walking and it has good equipment, but it’s not super busy, so we won’t have to deal with too many extras.” Izuku just hums, turning to the computer.

“I found a lot of research on diet science and also several promising looking workout routines-- just, overall, an easy starting point for the training we want to do. Also, safety training and first-aid, stuff like that. But how did you get two gym memberships? Did your mom pay for it?” Katsuki just smiles again, all teeth, and deposits the cards on Izuku’s desk so he can lean against it with a smirk. 

“Nope. Mom knows the owners and they owe her favor, so she got us in for free. Plus, I think my mom threw in some guilt-trippy shit about us needing somewhere to train to be heroes, she’s really good with people like that. But still, I got us somewhere to train!”

Izuku smiles and pats Katsuki’s arm. “You did great, Kacchan, very resourceful.” Katsuki grins again, proud. “Now,” Izuku says, motioning towards the computer, “I already sent you the files, and I’ll explain more in a bit, but do you think we should print it out for our moms? They’re the ones that are going to be helping us stick to the diet, and it would probably be easier keeping a physical copy around…” Katsuki makes a nose of consideration before nodding.

“Yeah, it would be a lot easier to show them, and to keep it all straight. Also, I can’t remember, do you guys have a printer? My dad has one if you don’t.” Izuku sighs, relieved they don’t have to run to the library to print something this late. 

“Yeah, that would be awesome Kacchan. Can you print it out and give me a copy tomorrow? I can start explaining stuff to my mom tonight because I did the research, so I don’t need it right away.” Katsuki nods again, then picks up his membership card and starts for the door.

“I’m gonna head home now, but you better text me any updates if you find out something new!”

Izuku laughs and waves him off. “I will, Kacchan, don’t worry. Go home!” Katsuki huffs at him but does so, closing the door behind him. After he’s gone, Izuku leans back in his chair, feeling the day catch up to him and leaving him exhausted. All that excitement sure can be draining, especially paired with doing so much research. Izuku stretches, hearing his joints pop, before he gets up to brush his teeth. He’ll explain their plan to Mom and then go straight to bed. If they’re starting this tomorrow- and he knows they want to- then they’ve got a big day ahead.

~

As expected, Izuku and Katsuki approaching their training with the same amount of near violent enthusiasm that they approach most things-- that is to say, a whole fucking lot. It takes a while to adjust to the new diet, but they take to working out like ducks to water. Rather than jump blindly into a full-body workout regimine, they start out just doing what they know and testing their limits. It’s no surprise that Katsuki enjoys lifting weights and doing pushups, but Izuku experiments with cardio to see where his endurance is at. It’s still not great, but better than he expected. After about a week of adjusting to regular exercise, Izuku finally starts on a full body routine. He and Katsuki do a quick warm up of stretches and a run on the treadmill, before transitioning to weightlifting. Katsuki helps him pick out something that’s probably a good starting point- 2.5 kilograms seems like a good weight for lots of reps. Izuku picks both the weights up, before looking at them quizzically and turning back to Katsuki. 

“Um, Kacchan, are you sure this isn’t too low? It kind of feels like I’m holding nothing.” Katsuki scoffs at him and puts down his own weights. “What the hell do you mean?”

“I just-! They’re _ really _ light! I know it’s not a lot of weight, but it’s- surprising. I know it’s all about repetition of the same motions with only a little extra weight, but it feels like I’m holding a pencil.” Katsuki stares at him, confusion evident on his face, before he gets a considering look in his eye and grabs another weight, handing it to Izuku. It’s ten kilograms this time, and Izuku is still holding the first two weights.

“How does that feel?” 

“Still nothing. You added an eraser, basically.”

Katsuki squints at him, before divesting him of his weights and steering him over to a new machine. This machine lets you pull up several heavy bars, with a pin holding up the amount of bars and thus the weight you’re lifting. Katsuki shoves the pin into the very bottom bar, making it the max weight of a hundred kilograms. Then he stands back, arms crossed.

“See if you can lift that.” Izuku looks at him skeptically, before sitting on the machine’s bench and pulling on the cord holding all the bars. It’s- it takes him effort, sure, but not _ nearly _ as much as he would expect from that much weight. Izuku does it a few more times, astonished, and Katsuki looks surprised as well, even though he was the one suspecting something like this.

“That’s- this is a gem thing, right? That was one hundred goddamn kilograms Izuku, you are a _ shrimp _ right now. You shouldn’t be able to do that!” Katsuki sounds a little annoyed, probably because he thinks this is something Izuku was hiding from him and he would hate that. Izuku rushes to assure him, pulling back from the machine. 

“It- I guess it must be! I just, I didn’t _ know _ about it until now. My mom always told me Emerald was strong, but I just thought she meant because she was- because she was super buff! I didn’t know this was a gem thing!”

But as he looks back, it does make a lot of sense. The Emerald he saw in the videos was built well, sure, but she didn’t look overly muscular, and Mom said Emerald could lift her easily, that being strong was a part of her character. A part of being a gem. God, how could he miss that! When he and Katsuki fought that kid, he sent him _ flying _ back! Normal people don’t do that! First fusing, then his weapon, now this? How much stuff can gems do? It’s like he has three quirks that he needs to worry about! Katsuki, obviously seeing Izuku devolving into anxious muttering, punches him in the arm and draws him back to the situation at hand. 

“Stop being fucking existential about it Izu, it’s not that weird. Your mom was an alien, of course she can do even more freaky shit. She was made out of a _ rock _. That’s already weird, so it doesn’t even matter. Plus, this is good, right? You wanna be a hero, and you’re gonna need to beat people up. You have an advantage because you’re already freaky strong. We just need to train to get you stronger, and give you like, any endurance. You may be able to lift, but you can’t run for shit, Izu.”

Katsuki puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, looking far less annoyed than he did earlier. “Obviously, you’re gonna be fine.” Then his expression sharpens, and he gives Izuku a toothy grin. “But don’t think I’m not gonna be able to kick your ass still when we actually start combat training. I’m not letting you get past me just because you’re strong. You need to work for that shit! We both do! And we’re both gonna get so fucking good that UA will be begging us to attend after we smash the entrance exam!” He punctuates his statement with another punch to his arm, and Izuku laughs finally, rubbing his arm and smiling up at Katsuki. 

“Fine Kacchan, fine. Stop punching me, I get it. I know we’re gonna do well at UA, because I’ve got you here to keep me on track.” His smile turns fond, and he gets up off the machine, stretching. “Now, come on and bully me into doing my endurance training right.” Katsuki laughs at him, and pushes him back over to the weights, and Izuku lets him. He’s happy to listen.

~

Training isn’t easy, it wouldn’t be very helpful if it was, but he and Katsuki keep at it relentlessly. He knows his mom is a little worried, but she’s also proud of him, given how many more hugs she doles out when he’s leaving for the gym. Katsuki complains endlessly about how mushy his mom has gotten about it all, and Izuku just laughs at him. But really, the most surprising thing is how quickly time flies by. They’re so busy with school and training and research that Izuku barely registers that almost 2 years have passed-- he just wakes up one morning and realizes that they’re in their last year of middle school. The UA entrance exam is _ less than a year away. _ Izuku is so frazzled by it that he runs to Katsuki’s place immediately, still in his pajamas, practically vibrating. Mr. Bakugou opens the door a little blearily, and he runs past him up to Katsuki’s room-- it’s good both their parents are so used to this that that isn’t cause for alarm-- and when Katsuki opens the door he just blurts out “The entrance exam is ten months away!! What are we gonna do??!” 

Katsuki looks at him, scoffs, and drags him inside to give him a noogie while Izuku wiggles in his grasp. “Only you would get so excited for something and then fucking forget about it! You’re an idiot, Izu.” Izuku whines, finally pushing himself out of Katsuki’s arms and falling to the floor. Katsuki just laughs at him, the traitor.

“It’s not _ that _ weird. We were busy with-- a lot of stuff. I just got… distracted, from actually thinking about it, and how close it’s becoming.” He says, a little weakly. Katsuki snorts, before joining him on the floor, legs crossed. 

“Seriously though Izu, don’t worry about it. You can already do a ridiculous amount of cool shit, and I’m just plain awesome. I don’t get why you’re so anxious about it now, of all times. Even if we didn’t start out hero material amongst a bunch of losers, we’ve been training for _ two years _, we aced the mock tests, so we’ve fucking got this. Calm down.” Katsuki is confident as always, but Izuku just glares at him, still feeling that tight knot of anxiety in his chest. 

“But we don’t know what’s gonna be on the exam, what if we’ve been doing all the wrong stuff to prepare for it? What if it’s not even about being strong or strategic or- or-” Izuku is cut off by Katsuki smacking him lightly upside the head, and he yelps in surprise. 

“Quit your fucking worrying Izu, you’re gonna get a goddamn ulcer. Just think about it-- we’ve been training to do the shit that all heroes have to do. Be strong, be fast, be smart. If the hero exam doesn’t quiz us on _ hero shit _ then it’s a bad exam and UA would be a way worse school than it is. We’re prepared. Stop. Worrying.” Katsuki’s statement is punctuated by another ruffling of Izuku’s hair, but it’s gentler this time, comforting. Izuku manages a small smile, feeling some of his worry fade, and he lets out the breath he was holding. 

“I guess you’re right,” he says quietly. Katsuki grins, all teeth.

“ ‘Course I’m right. I’m always right.” Izuku raises an eyebrow at that, and Katsuki raises one back, smug. Instead of challenging it, Izuku just throws his arms up and huffs. 

“Whatever you say Kacchan. But, ah- thank you. For calming me down. I don’t know why it gets so bad, sometimes.” That’s the worst thing about anxiety, other than the actual feelings-- he can’t _ understand _ it, can’t predict it. Izuku has built his life around analyzing everything, categorizing and deconstructing everything around him until it makes sense and he can explain why it works the way it works. His brain doesn’t do that. He’ll get these flashes of absolute panic at almost no provocation and it’s just so frustrating to not be able to really control himself. Sure, he can do a lot of things to mitigate his anxiety, but it’s still there, and it can still catch him by surprise more often than not. It’s just… frustrating. Katsuki sees his expression fall and he huffs, running his hand through Izuku’s hair again. 

“Don’t worry about it, idiot. I’m your friend, aren’t I? What kind of shitty friend doesn’t calm his friend down when he needs it? Even if that friend woke his friend up way too early. I can’t believe you ran over in your pajamas. Did you even put on shoes?” Izuku starts at the revelation that yes, he did run over in his pajamas and yes, he is barefoot. He groans, embarrassed, burying his face in Katsuki’s lap while his best friend just laughs at him some more. Well, at least it’s an energetic start to the day…

~

Despite how much Katsuki helped calm him down, Izuku can’t help but be a little high strung. Katsuki suggests a race to school, and that seems like a good idea, to blow off a little steam. Izuku is just passing Katsuki on the sidewalk when the earth shudders, almost making Izuku trip, and there’s the sound of a crash and screams not too far away. Katsuki comes up to a stop beside him, and they both look at the source of the noise before booking it in that direction. Of course, just when Izuku is unsure of himself, they get to see a hero fight a villain! They pull into the street where the noise is loudest, just in time to see an enormous villain with a shark-like face get decked by Kamui Woods. There are several other heroes gathered, but it seems like everyone’s quirks are pretty bad match-ups to Gigantism. Izuku grabs Katsuki’s arm, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Oh, we haven’t seen a size-manipulating quirk like this in so long! And it’s really strong, too- like, he’s really big! But oh, Kacchan, all the heroes here are such poor matchups for a quirk like this, aren’t they?” Katsuki nods, humming a bit as he leans into Izuku’s side. 

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t look like the guy has very much of a plan, or control, the dipshit. He’s swinging pretty wildly, probably because he’s throwing so much extra weight around. I’d say that Woods has the best chance against him, since he can grow restraints, but you’re right that it’s not the best. It even looks like he’s gonna try that right now.” 

Just as Izuku is about to open his mouth to answer, they feel another tremor shake the ground, and an enormous figure jumps over them and sends their feet right into the villains face, knocking him back onto the street, seemingly unconscious. The hero flips her hair and smiles at the crowd, booming out an introduction that labels her as “Mount Lady.” Izuku almost screams in excitement, but instead he just fumbles to grab his phone to take a few pictures and jot down something for his hero notes. 

“Kacchan!! It’s a new hero! I don’t think we’ve ever caught someone’s debut before now!” His voice is breathy with excitement, and he’s somehow typing and rambling about Mount Lady’s quirk at the same time. Katsuki just laughs quietly and swings an arm around Izuku’s shoulders, turning them both around and starting in the direction of the school. Izuku makes a little sound of protest, craning his neck to see behind them, and Katsuki just squeezes him. 

“Come on Izu, she knocked out the villain, and her quirk is pretty damn self-explanatory. Shit’s gonna get really boring around here real soon with the cops and cleanup, and we’ve got school. We’re gonna go now.” Izuku sniffs a little, before sighing and putting his phone away. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right again. I was just so excited to see someone’s debut! And what a great debut it was-- one hit K.O.! That’s a great first impression for an upcoming hero to have, think of all the other things she’ll be able to do when she gains more influence-” Izuku is cut off by Katsuki grinning at him and taking off, and Izuku yells before running after him.

Letting him get distracted by heroes is not a valid way to win their race!! But the energy he had built up watching the fight is well spent running, and Izuku makes it to the school feeling a bit more refreshed, even if the anxiety isn’t entirely gone. There’s still that itch at the back of his throat that distracts him and makes him a bit more jumpy than usual, and it’s probably how he completely forgot there was going to be something special happening today.

So when their teacher asks the class about their future careers, the explosion of noise makes him yelp and flinch back, and some of the other kids give him a weird look, while Katsuki shoots him a flash of concern. Izuku just gives him a thumbs up and runs his hands through his hair, grounding himself a little. Really, he’s being weird. He lifts his head up to pay attention to what the teacher is saying, catching the end of his laugh at the student’s enthusiasm.

“Yes, yes, I know you all want to be heroes. But let’s consider some other options too, alright? For today’s class, instead of a lesson, we’ll be having several people from different careers come in and tell you the benefits of their work, and the high schools that they went to in our area! I think it will be very illuminating for those of you to whom hero work might not be _ entirely _ suited- yes, Bakugou?” As their teacher talked, Katsuki had raised his hand, already looking bored. After he’s called on, he cocks his head, smirking. 

“Oi teach, since Izuku and I are going to UA, do we have to stay for this-” he glances at Izuku, who narrows his eyes back- “stuff. Obviously we’re gonna get in, we don’t need to waste time entertaining any boring options.”

Their teacher purses his lips as a ripple goes through the class, something about UA being such a prestigious school that it’s pretty bold for Katsuki to say that. Izuku understands, of course. UA _ is _ a prestigious school-- internationally renowned. He knows it’s a lofty goal, but while he may not share Katsuki’s unshakable confidence, he feels sure of their abilities, and he knows they’ve worked hard enough that they have a chance. Just not a hundred percent chance, maybe. 

“Kacchan, don’t make a big deal out of it!” He hisses, already feeling uncomfortable with all the attention on them. Katsuki gives him a disbelieving look and Izuku just glares and motions a hand around them, pointing out how disruptive he’s being. Seriously Katsuki, think a little before you say stuff! Their teacher clears his throat, unimpressed. 

“Yes, I know you both want to go to UA, but don’t you think it would be wise to know what your other options are? I know your quirk is very suited to hero work Bakugou, and Midoriya’s is certainly _ unique _, but you can’t ignore everything else.” Katsuki opens his mouth a bit angrily, like he’s about to say something stupid back, so Izuku swats him on the arm and glares at him to get him to shut up. 

“... Fine.” Katsuki finally grinds out, slumping back into the chair. Their teacher raises an eyebrow at the display, before turning back and writing something on the board. “Now, I’ll be assigning a short essay over what was discussed today and your top three prospective careers and potential high schools. Don’t groan like that, it’s only a few paragraphs! Now, here we have our first guest…” And the rest of class continues like that.

The career presentations are nice, and Izuku pays as much attention as he can. He can admit that Katsuki might’ve had a point about their single-mindedness. It’s actually really hard to pick a different career, the only thing he wants to do is hero work. He supposes doctor and social worker come the closest, he does want to help people, so he just jots those down and makes a couple notes about how to frame his essay tonight.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, until the last bell rings and Katsuki is scooting up beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder, face a bit stricken. 

“Izu, why were you so mad earlier? We don’t need to deal with other fuckin’ schools! We’re going to UA! We literally talked about this this morning.” Katsuki looks legitimately confused, and Izuku feels bad about being so tetchy. 

“Sorry, Kacchan, I just- I’ve been feeling anxious all day. Watching that fight was fun, and running helped me lose a bit of energy, but I’m just- I’m just on edge, and it made all the attention that much worse. You were being pretty disruptive, and a lot of kids were staring at us, especially the teacher, and it just got to me a lot easier than it usually does. Still, I’m sorry about being so snippy.” Izuku awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck, feeling more awful than he should (thanks anxiety), when Katsuki sighs and puts an arm around his shoulders, giving him a squeeze. 

“Eh, it’s fine. That fight this morning just hyped me up, and I really wanted all those fuckin’ extras in class to _ know _ that we’re gonna be the best, just like all the pro heroes already out there. Better, even. Some of those guys are shit.” Izuku snorts and pushes at him, while Katsuki grins. 

“Kacchan, don’t be mean!” 

“ ‘S not mean if it’s the truth Izu!” Izuku is smiling now, feeling better, and calmer. Katsuki looks happy about that, before his phone buzzes and he pulls it out before groaning. “Uuuugh, I gotta go pick up some shit for the hag. She needs some extra ingredients for dinner tonight and Dad forget ‘em. You gonna be able to walk home without passing out or somethin’?” Izuku rolls his eyes and pushes Katsuki off of him, standing up. 

“No, I’m fine now, you go ahead. I’m gonna stay behind for a bit and drink some water, and then I’ll just walk straight home. Today’s been kind of exhausting.” Katsuki nods and gathers his stuff, swinging his backpack over one shoulder and turning for the door. 

“See ya later nerd!” Katsuki says, waving a hand behind him, Izuku just blows a raspberry at him, smiling when he cackles back. After Katsuki is gone, Izuku lets out a sigh and starts packing up his bag. The water helps too, and so does sitting down on his own for a few minutes. It’s pretty peaceful after school, when most of the other kids are gone. It helps ease some of that itch, and he grabs another drink of water before finally leaving the building.

~

His route is quiet since everybody’s already had time to get home, and he just lets himself listen to the sound of his footsteps and the rustle of the leaves. He’s just making his way through a little tunnel, his footsteps making a pleasant echo, when he hears something behind him. It sounds… squishy. Then, there’s a voice to go with it, loud and grating, and Izuku freezes. 

“Well well, didn’t think I’d find such a good little meat bag walking around alone! You’re the perfect fit for me to make my escape in, kid. Now, try not to scream!” And Izuku is only just turning around when a mass of viscous fluid descends upon him, shoving itself into his face and down his throat. He tries to scream but it’s _ inside _ him, cutting off his air supply, and he just makes an aborted choking noise as he claws at the slime forcing its way down his throat.

“Haha, hell of a fighter! Keep strugglin’ kid, it’ll just make you weaker faster.” Izuku is clawing and clawing, but his hands just slide through the slime, tearing away only insignificant chunks, and he feels tears slide down his face as his body struggles against suffocation. He’s clawing and kicking and trying to cough, to force it out, to do _ anything _ , but it keeps pushing deeper down his throat, and he feels like he's drowning but no no nonono please no he can’t die, he can’t.

He needs to breathe, needs it _ out _ because he can’t breathe, and he needs it OUT get it OUT get it out get it out get it out-- and his vision is going black but he can feel something, feels his chest wobble and tighten, and suddenly he’s bending over and _ forcing _ the thing out of his throat, something inside him pushing up and up until he’s throwing all of the slime up and out of his body. As soon as his mouth is empty he sucks in a desperate gasp of air, falling over onto the ground and trying to pull himself as far away from the villain as possible. The villain isn’t fully encompassing him anymore, apparently disoriented from being ejected from his body, before he seems to recover. 

“Whatever the hell that was kid, get back here so I can kill you!” The sludge growls out. Izuku is so exhausted that he can barely move, can’t even scream when the villain comes rushing at him again, and he squeezes his eyes shut awaiting the worst. Then, there’s a rush of air in front of him and a rough, grating scream. Izuku is shaking, but he’s not dead yet, and the villain still isn’t touching him, so he cracks open an eye, then opens them both so fast and so wide he almost falls over.

Standing in front of him is fucking All Might. 

“NEVER FEAR!” All Might(!!!) says, proudly showing off two soda bottles stuffed full of the villain. “FOR I AM HERE! Now, are you alright, young man?” All Might leans over him, tucking the bottles away into his shorts pockets, and holds out a hand.

Izuku passes out.

~

Izuku opens his eyes blearily, before the last few moments come rushing back and he shoots up from where he was laying, cursing when he feels a sharp stab of pain in his head. Someone behind him laughs, and he looks up and oh god All Might is still here.

“You gave me quite a scare, passing out like that! I am glad to know that you are ok! Here,” All Might presents him with one of his hero notebooks, and he takes it dazedly. “This fell out of your school bag. I’ve already signed it!” All Might strikes a pose, and sure enough, on the first blank page is a sprawling signature. Izuku clutches the book to his chest, feeling his eyes fill with tears.

He looks up at All Might, feeling such overwhelming emotion that he doesn’t know he could speak if he wanted to. And god, he wants to. This is his childhood hero, the #1 hero! All Might inspires every aspect of his life and his goals, and he’s just, standing in front of Izuku! Right now! Izuku sucks in a desperate breath, shoving the notebook into his backpack, before he stands up and takes a wobbly step forward. All Might looks a little uncomfortable and a lot worried, probably because Izuku is still kind of crying. He takes another ragged breath, opening his mouth and clasping his hands together. This is finally his chance to ask All Might, to validate his goal and take away that constant itch of anxiety, that fear that he can’t achieve it. 

“All Might! I’m, I'm Midoriya I-Izuku and you- you have- you have no idea h-how much I look up to you! You’re my biggest hero, you inspire me s-so much every day, I can’t- I can’t even- it means so much to me, and it’s so hard to even- even talk about it, I’m just so _ grateful _-!” Izuku is shaking hard, breaths short, and All Might puts one huge hand on his shoulder to steady him, giving it a gentle squeeze. Izuku shuts right up and stares at him with wide eyes. 

“Please, young man, calm down. You just went through a very traumatic experience. I see that you’re a big fan, and I appreciate that very much. You have a lot of spirit, and that notebook! Midoriya, is it? I couldn’t help but skim through, and your observations are incredibly perceptive. You have a real analytical skill, I think.” All Might’s words finally tip the scales into full on emotional outburst, and tears start streaming down his face. All Might looks distressed, but he just smiles and wipes at them. 

“I-I’m sorry, I’m just so happy to- to meet you! You have no idea how- how _ important _ this is to me. I have- I have something I need to ask you, it’s really-” And All Might still looks distressed, and he pulls back quickly, whole body tense. Izuku looks at him, confused and hurt. 

“I am very sorry young man, but duty calls! I have very pressing matters to attend to, so I must take my leave!” All Might turns around swiftly, crouching down, and Izuku runs after him, arm stretched out and mouth open in a question. He doesn’t know what makes him do it, what makes him desperate enough. But he does it, and when All Might jumps into the air Izuku is clinging tightly to his leg, face buried in the fabric to keep himself from getting wind burn. He hears All Might make a noise of distress, feels that big hand on his back holding him tightly, before they’re falling, landing gently on a building. All Might grabs him by the back of his uniform and pries him off his leg, depositing him on the concrete. 

“Young Midoriya! That was incredibly dangerous! What if you had fallen? NOW! I really must be going!!” All Might starts to turn, but Izuku is standing up and grabbing his arm, yelling “Wait!”

All Might tries to pull away gently, but Izuku looks up at him, stricken. “Please, I just- I just have one question. I-I’m sorry for grabbing you, but please.” Izuku lets go of his arm and stands back, feeling yet more tears pricking at his eyes.

“I just- I had to ask you something. About being a hero. I want to be one so, so badly. But my powers are-- I don’t even really _ understand _ what they are yet, and that scares me so badly. I needed to ask you-” and Izuku is so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn’t notice the pained look on All Might’s face, the steam rising up from his shirt- “Can I be a hero if I don’t even know who I am?” Izuku looks up, hopeful, before All Might explodes in a cloud of steam and he shrieks. “All Might?!”

There’s a wretched cough from the cloud, and the figure that steps out of it can only be described as skeletal. He’s tall, thin, and disheveled, but he’s wearing All Might’s clothes, and he has All Might’s hair. Izuku puts his hands down from where he raised them, voice hesitant. “All Might?”

“Yeah, it’s me, kid.” All Might’s voice is a rasp, and he coughs again, covering his mouth with his hand. He seems to take another look at Izuku, before sighing and sitting down. “Alright, come on over, I guess I’m gonna have to explain.” Izuku does so hesitantly, sitting down cross-legged across from where All Might is leaning against the short roof wall. 

“Um, what happened to you, All Might? You look… sick, like this.” All Might laughs weakly, before his expression flattens and he pulls up his shirt. Izuku can’t stop the gasp that escapes him. 

“Yeah, that’s about the right reaction,” All Might says. “What happened to me, kid, is hero work. I got this injury six years ago-- it destroyed some of my organs, including my stomach. Ever since then, I’ve been like this.” Izuku blinks, scouring his memory. 

“But Toxic Chainsaw never would have been able to do something like this!” Izuku blurts out. All Might looks surprised for a moment before he chuckles and puts his shirt down. 

“Hell, kid, you’ve done your research. You really are serious about this, huh? No, Toxic Chainsaw didn't do this. The villain that did was much, much bigger, but he's… gone, now. After that battle, it was all I could do to stop him." All Might closes his eyes, expression twisted in pain, from his injury or reliving those memories Izuku couldn't tell. Finally, he sighs, opening his eyes and cracking a wry smile. "Well, I guess I owe it to you to answer that question, after you had to see me like this. Can't hurt to, anyway. Now, what were you askin’?”

“I don’t think it’s bad! I’m worried about you, not- not… not um, disgusted. Or anything.” Izuku feels himself blush as All Might raises an eyebrow at him, and he scratches the back of his neck anxiously before barrelling on.

“But-! My question. I- I wanted to ask you, if. Um, well. My- my quirk is something I don’t fully understand,” and here Izuku shakily unbuttons the top of his uniform and exposes his gem. All Might startles when he sees it, and Izuku doesn’t understand that reaction, but he keeps going despite the extra spike of anxiety that shoots through him. “I keep finding out new things about it, and it _ scares _ me, to not know everything I can do, to- to not be able to be sure of myself like that. I want more than anything to be a hero, but- can I be a hero if I don’t even know what I am?” Izuku is looking at All Might, a desperate hope on his face, and All Might just stares at him, blinking. 

“Kid,” he starts, voice surprisingly hesitant, “are you a gem?” Izuku blinks, then splutters. 

“Um, y-yes? I mean, kind of? Wh- why is that important? I’m… I’m a half gem.” Izuku is so confused. All Might knows about gems? Enough to understand what _ his _ means?? Why???

All Might looks taken aback too. “A _ half _ gem? Kid, that should not be possible.” Izuku is so out of the loop of this conversation. 

“I- I don’t understand why that matters. How do you even know about gems? Most people have never even met one!” All Might looks stricken, then, and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Well, let’s just say I have a close friend. He told me everything I know about gems, and one of those things is that they’re rocks made of light. I didn’t think they could have kids, it’s kind of surprising.” Izuku jumps up and points at All Might, a little hysterical. 

“This is surprisingly?! You’re surprising! First you explode into a skeleton version of yourself, and now you’re an expert on gems!? What the heck, All Might?” His voice is shaky and he feels ever so slightly unhinged. Seriously. What the hell. All Might stands too, motioning for him to stop pointing.

“Calm down kid, seriously. It’s not important, it was just-- yeah. Surprising. But, in all seriousness,” All Might’s tone shifts, turning low and gravelly, and Izuku feels himself tense up. “Kid, it takes a lot to be a hero. If you don’t even know what you can do, I don’t know if you can handle it. There are sacrifices to be made, decisions that can affect life and death. It's not easy, not even for the people that have done it for years, know their exact limits and how to push them. It's _ hard, _ and with a limit like that…" 

All Might scratches the back of his neck, expression softening a bit. "I’m not gonna tell you you can’t learn, just-- I don’t want kids like you getting hurt chasing dreams when reality isn’t so pretty.” All Might nods to where his scar sits on his side, wincing slightly, before turning back to Izuku and walking towards him, towards the door that leads down from the roof. As he passes, he puts a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, giving it another squeeze-- not comforting, but grounding.

“It’s a hard life, kid. Take a good look before you jump right in.” And then he’s gone, through the door and out of Izuku’s life. 

~

It takes a few minutes, for everything to sink in. Izuku has to sit down on the edge of the roof, letting his legs swing in the breeze. He feels… he doesn’t know how he feels. Dejected? Disappointed? Crushed? No, maybe not crushed. At least, not fully. All Might’s words weren’t encouraging, but they also weren’t a dismissal. It just felt too bleak, too tragic. All Might isn’t supposed to be _ tragic _ . He rises above everything, saves people from impossible situations, all with a smile. But this All Might wasn’t smiling. He looked tired, exhausted and hurting. It was _ painful _ to see All Might like that, see the tension in his face when he moved, pulling on a wound no one even knew he had had for six years. Even thinking about it is horrible!

Izuku just feels hurt and lost, maybe even more than when he started, because at least then he hadn’t known how much crueler the world really was. Even to legends like All Might. Maybe- maybe he isn’t cut out for this. Maybe he’s too soft, too weak, too unsure of everything, to be a hero. It’s a painful thought, and Izuku squeezes his arms together, trying not to cry. He can’t, not right now. It’s too much. 

Suddenly, Izuku is broken out of his daze by the sound of explosions in the distance. He sees bright reds and oranges and billowing smoke, and he can distantly hear screams. From here it looks like the explosions are coming from the… shopping… district… 

“Kacchan!” Izuku gasps, and he scrambles to stand, shoes scraping against the concrete as he barrels through the door and down the stairs. Katsuki was out shopping for his mom today, they always go there. It could be a coincidence, but Izuku knows Katsuki, knows his quirk more intimately than any other, and the colors and sounds are all too similar, it’s all too much to be a coincidence.

He makes it out of the building, lungs already burning, but he doesn’t let himself slow down until he reaches the source of the explosions. There’s a crowd already gathered, and in the center is the sludge villain, surrounded by heroes that can’t touch him. Wait, but Izuku thought All Might had captured him, why- realization tears through Izuku with mounting horror. Oh god, the bottles! They must have fallen out of All Might’s pocket when Izuku grabbed him! Izuku makes a choked noise, head in his hands. This is all his fault! That person is in danger because of him- that person- they- Kacchan.

Something wild jolts through Izuku, as he looks up and catches a glimpse of his best friend’s terrified face. Something hits him right in the chest, fills him up until he thinks he’ll scream, and then he’s running, blindly through the crowd, through the heroes. Someone tries to grab him but he’s too fast, and tears are streaming down his face but he has to save Katsuki, he has to, he has to. Katsuki is his best friend, he can’t let him die. And he’s getting closer, and closer, and the sludge villain turns to him in slow motion, Katsuki stuck in his disgusting grasp, eyes wide.

Izuku feels his gem glow, feels the familiar pressure wrap around his hand, and he jumps, rears his arm back, and punches the sludge villain directly in the eye, as hard as he can. The sludge shudders, is pushed back, and he hears something pop, before the villain lets out a gruesome scream. As it does, it lets go of Katsuki’s face, and he sucks in a desperate gulp of air. Izuku sobs with relief, grabbing Katsuki by the arm and trying to pull him out, but the sludge is reforming, and it’s holding tight. 

The villain screams with rage. “YOU LITTLE SHIT! MY FUCKING EYE! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!” It whips out a tendril to grab him, but he punches it, and the force of his blow deflects it for a moment. Izuku is still crying, breath catching as he sobs.

“Kacchan, I have- I have to save you. You c-can’t die. Please, please, you can’t die!” The sludge villain is just about to wrap around him, roaring in anger and pain, and Izuku braces for it, for the drowning and the _ pain _, when he feels something grab tightly onto his arm before a massive force pushes over and past him, whipping his hair and clothes around violently. He has to gasp in a breath when it’s over, looking up at the once again buff form of All Might. 

“My boy,” All Might says, voice soft, “I was so _very_ wrong about you.” Something in him bursts at the statement, something fragile and bright and full of hope, and he can't process it, not yet, there's too much. Beside them, Izuku sees Katsuki held in All Might’s other hand. The relief that washes over him is so powerful that Izuku can’t help himself-- he staggers over and throws himself at Katsuki, wrapping his arms around him and sobbing into his shoulder. 

“K-Kacchan, oh my god! I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so- I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault, you almost- you- you could have _ died _ !” Every few words are choked out between his hiccuping sobs, and he’s squeezing Katsuki tightly, like if he lets go he’ll disappear into danger again. Katsuki finally wraps his arms around Izuku in return, but he doesn’t say anything yet, just squeezes just as hard. Izuku sobs even more, his relief an almost painful thing. God, he’s ok, he’s _ ok _, thank god he’s ok.

“I was so scared.” He finally chokes out, voice hoarse. Katsuki runs a hand through his hair before turning his head, pressing his face into it. His voice is muffled by Izuku’s hair, but he’s so close that it’s easy to make out. 

“It’s ok, Izu. We’re ok.” And it’s the softest Izuku thinks he’s ever heard Katsuki speak, and that chills him in an entirely different way. Katsuki is scared too, more than he can admit, and Izuku rubs a hand up and down his back, still clutching him tightly, so he can wheeze out a quiet agreement.

“Yeah. We're ok.”

~

They stay like that for what feels like hours, the terror draining slowly out of their systems, before all the noise of the scene starts filtering back in and they’re bombarded by heroes and the media. Izuku is tugged away from Katsuki by a large hand, and he struggles violently before he realizes what’s happened. The hero that grabbed him drops him and backs away a bit, before putting his hands on his hips and giving him a disapproving look.

“Kid, that was dangerous! Even with your quirk, you should’ve let the heroes take care of it.” As he’s talking, Katsuki stomps forward and grabs his hand, and Izuku leans into his side, visibly shaking. Katsuki snarls at the hero.

“Take care of what, dipshit, letting me get killed? None of you assholes did jack shit! It wasn’t until a fucking middle schooler came in that I stopped being fucking suffocated. All of you idiots don’t even deserved to be called heroes, _ Izuku _ is the one that fucking saved me.” Katsuki is cut off from yelling more vitriol, and the villain from yelling back, when All Might steps between them and gently nudges them apart. 

“Yes, well, that was all very harrowing, thank you for your help! I’ll be taking these two away from any more traumatising encounters! If you could handle cleanup that would be lovely!” All Might doesn’t let them get a word in edgewise, just shepherds the two boys off and away from the chaos. Izuku is grateful, but he’s far too tired to say it, so he just clings to Katsuki. 

When they’re far enough away from all the media and heroes that things have quieted down, and Katsuki has started leading the way home, All Might coughs, looking nervously between them. Izuku can see a fleck of blood on his lip and his eyes widen at the memory of All Might’s injury, his true form. Finally, All Might clears his throat, smile strained. 

“Now, my boys, I’m sure you know that you’re going to have to report to the police soon to give them an account of what happened. I have a friend at the police station, he’ll be able to take care of you, and he’ll understand the wait. I wanted to get you out of there before the reporters could hound you-- you’ve already been through more than enough-- and because, well…” Again, All Might looks stricken, glancing between the two of them, his eyes landing on Izuku. “Well, I’d like to talk to young Midoriya privately, if you would be so kind.”

Katsuki gives Izuku a sideways glance, confused and annoyed, and Izuku fiddles nervously with the cuffs of his sleeves, suddenly feeling a little anxious. He was going to have to explain this sooner or later, and apparently sooner is the only option. He doesn’t know what else he was expecting, really. 

“Well, ah, A-all Might, sir, I actually needed to t-talk about that.” His voice is weak and a little embarrassed. “What I need to mention is that I can’t really… keep secrets, from Kacchan. We fuse, you see,” and the shock on All Might’s face is something to file away for later, before he continues, “a-and we know each other so well and we do it so often that it’s hard to hide stuff from each other.” Izuku tries to smile, but it’s nervous and crooked. “What I mean to say is that, ah, when we next fuse he’s probably going to find out about your… condition. So anything you have to tell me might as well include Kacchan, at this point.” 

Izuku feels dizzy asking something so monumental of his number one idol. It feels slimy, forcing All Might to share his secret with someone else, but he really wouldn’t be able to keep it from Katsuki, and All Might needs to know that too. From the looks of the calculating grimace on All Might’s face, he realizes this too, and it’s with a final sigh that steam erupts from All Might’s form and he’s thin and skeletal once again. 

“One more kid, what does it matter? You’re already in deep enough as it is, Toshi.” All Might (Toshi?) mutters under his breath, before turning to the two boys once more. Katsuki is staring at All Might with wide eyes, but he’s taking it much more calmly than Izuku did, which Izuku chooses not to pout over. All Might closes the distance between them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

“This is going to be a very important and very… exciting conversation, and now that you both know about my limit, I’m going to take my time with it. Why don’t we start with introductions, hmm? My name is Toshinori Yagi, so please, call me Yagi.” Yagi holds out his hand for them to shake.

“Katsuki Bakugou,” Katsuki says faintly, apparently still a little starstruck despite all his posturing, as he shakes Yagi’s hand. Yagi turns to Izuku with a smile, and Izuku shakes his hand as well, flustered. “And of course, I’ve been acquainted with Midoriya.” His expression turns more serious, and he kneels to be at eye level with the two, though his focus remains on Izuku.

“Now, Midoriya, I know I’ve already said that what I’m going to talk to you about is incredibly important, yes?” Izuku nods, glancing at Katsuki, even more nervous. “I have something to ask of you, and it’s going to take some time to explain fully, but plainly put…” and here Yagi stands back up to his full height, looking down at Izuku with that bright smile, the sun framing his hair so it glows, “I want you to be my successor.”

Izuku’s mind screeches to a halt and, for the second time that day, he faints.

~

Somehow, they end up in Izuku’s living room, each with a cup of tea in their hands. Yagi looks a little ridiculous sitting on their tiny couch, but Izuku should probably just be grateful his mom isn’t mad at him for bringing a stranger home. He’s really glad she trusts him so much. Katsuki is still making fun of him for fainting like he did, but he can’t really help it. That was a pretty mind-blowing offer. 

Even just thinking about it, about _ All Might _ saying THAT to him makes him giddy, and he sets his tea down on the coffee table before he spills it. His mom is still hovering near them, casting slightly worried glances between him and All Might, and Izuku gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. She relaxes, just slightly, and Izuku’s smile turns more genuine. 

“If you could give us a minute alone, Mom? We’re gonna explain everything soon, but I kind of just wanted to talk to Yagi about what he meant before we decide what to do together. Is that ok?” Inko frets for a moment, before she wilts under the force of Izuku’s hopeful look and gives him a quick kiss on the forehead. 

“Yes, yes, alright Izuku, I’ll give you a moment. I trust you not to do anything irresponsible, and we’ll be having a long talk after dinner.” She gives him a look that means that last part is very much non-negotiable, and Izuku nods quickly, before Inko smiles and walks off into the kitchen to start cooking dinner. 

Izuku sighs, picking his tea back up to take a long drink, before he’s finally gathered the strength to face Yagi. “Ok, now that I’m no longer in danger of cracking my head open on the sidewalk, can you please explain?” There’s a giddy energy building up inside him, already thrumming from just those few words Yagi uttered. _ “Successor” _ is a pretty damn exciting idea, and Izuku finds himself leaning hard into Katsuki’s side to ground a bit of his energy. Katsuki just huffs and wraps an arm around him, still drinking his tea. He’s probably dehydrated from fighting the villain, earlier. 

Yagi coughs politely into his hand, setting his drink down as well, before turning to face them. “It’s as I said, young Midoriya. I would like you to be my successor— to inherit my quirk, and become the next Symbol of Peace.” Izuku sucks in a breath, eyes wide. Inherit a quirk? Like, passing it along? That’s incredible! Yagi laughs a bit at the expression on Izuku’s face, no doubt already pinning down his thoughts.

“Yes, yes, it’s all rather exciting. Let me explain. I have a quirk called One For All, which can be passed from one user to the next. There have been seven before me, and I think that you, Izuku Midoriya, are worthy of being the ninth user. After everything I’ve seen, your drive, your bravery, your _ selflessness _, I believe you can be a great hero.” 

Yagi’s smile is kind, and Izuku feels like he’s going to vibrate out of his skin or start screaming with helpless joy. He had heard Yagi the first two times, heard “successor” and gone light-headed with excited, but it’s only now that it finally, truly sinks in. All Might wants _ him,_ believes in _him._

Instead of saying anything meaningful back, he just starts crying, turning his head to blubber into Katsuki’s shirt. He can’t— he can’t handle Yagi’s faith in him, his faith in Izuku’s ability to fill in that role. The next _ Symbol of Peace?! _ It’s overwhelming but he wants it, so badly does he want it. All Might is his greatest hero, and here he is, literally telling Izuku that he’s going to step into his shoes someday. It’s terrifying and exhilarating and incredible, all at once. Izuku can’t seem to stop crying to give his response, but both parties seem to understand his enthusiasm and what it means. Katsuki rubs his back in a soothing motion, before looking up at Yagi. 

“So, you’re gonna give Izuku your quirk and train him, right? Because if you’re training him you’re training me. Whatever that nerd does, we do together, because we’re gonna become the best two damn heroes the world has ever fucking seen, and I don’t want him getting ahead of me!” Izuku laughs wetly into his side, and Katsuki ruffles his hair roughly in return. Yagi laughs quietly at their antics, knowing that, no matter what, he’s going to enjoy the time he spends with the two.

“Yes, training will be very very necessary. One For All is… powerful. It can completely wreck a user’s body if they’re not physically prepared for it. You could break quite a few bones trying to use too much when you’re not ready. We’ll need to train extensively before I can even think of passing my quirk onto young Midoriya.”

Izuku sniffs quietly, pulling away from Katsuki and wiping his face on his sleeve. He feels... he feels content. It's all finally sinking in that this is real, that his dream is _here_, and he takes a deep breath. His face is red and splotchy but his smile is blinding, and he turns the full force of it on Yagi.

“I- I’ll do it, whatever it takes. I want- I want to be your successor, All Might!” Izuku feels something take hold within him, something bright and hot and driven. He’s going to do this, and he won’t stop for anything. Yagi smiles, soft.

“Thank you, Midoriya. You’re going to be an incredible hero one day, my boy, I just know it.” Once again, that blinding smile is turned on him, and Yagi finds himself absolutely certain of this future. Yes, this is the one. This is the one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Made a minor edit to the end of the chapter because I didn't like something (I did finish this in only a few hours), sorry bout that!
> 
> Ending on a tender note because I'm a sap.
> 
> Ok but seriously this chapter is huge (about the size of the other 3 combined) but it still only barely got to All Might, and I'm so excited to actually start exploring Izuku's powers (how did he eject the slime villain hmmm?? hint, it's a normal gem power used in an interesting way!), so I'm excited for more. This chapter was actually only half done when I posted the fic, but I got so excited about the immediate response that I just up and finished. So yeah. Expect updates very soon ;p


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few new characters are introduced, and the gang trains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is liking the story so far! Enjoy another huge chapter! 
> 
> Also, I did not anticipate writing that scene and introducing that character so early, but here we are alkfdjalskfj.

It’s not necessarily easy, after that, but Izuku wouldn’t expect it to be. Explaining everything to his mom is a… process. She’s surprised at first, because of course she is, All Might is _ in her house _, and then she gets that sort of stern look on her face that promises trouble and pulls Yagi into the other room. They come out a few minutes later, Yagi looking thoroughly cowed, and Mom seems pleased with herself, giving her blessing to let them continue. 

She really is proud of him for getting this far, and that warms Izuku to his core. He loves his mom, and knowing she supports him whole-heartedly is… it means a lot, and they share a signature teary Midoriya hug. After all the talking and crying and dinner, Yagi promises to come by the next day to talk about their training.

“And to take you to the station, of course.” Yagi says cheerfully as he gets ready to leave. “I bought you some time to rest after the attack, but the police are still going to need your statement.” At Mom’s narrowed glare, he laughs a bit nervously and ruffles Izuku’s hair. 

“It’s nothing bad, I promise! The boys were in an attack, the police just need to know some of what happened. It will be quick, we can get started working right after, and I know someone on the force who’s incredibly kind and very trustworthy, a detective. He’s been my friend for years, I’m sure the boys will love him.” 

Mom gives him a curt nod, but Izuku is too busy vibrating out of his skin to really notice. A friend of All Might??? That’ll be so cool! Izuku is going to ask so many good questions, the perspective of a law enforcer who works regularly with heroes will be invaluable to his research. 

While Izuku is busy mumbling about possible topics of conversation, his mom and Katsuki see Yagi off. He feels a little bad for the distracted way he waves goodbye, but everyone just laughs, so it’s probably not a big deal. Katsuki steers him up to his bedroom and bullies him into getting ready for bed instead of spending all night researching and coming up with questions. It may not be what he wants to do, but it’s what he should do, so he puts up minimal resistance.

It’s incredibly hard to get to sleep with the days events replaying every time he closes his eyes. He just wants to keep thinking about it, analyzing everything that happened and coming up with plans for the future. Ultimately, though, the exhaustion gets to him, and he manages to fall asleep.

~

Izuku wakes slowly the next day— it’s a Saturday, so his immediate reaction is to climb blearily out of bed and fumble around for his workout clothes so he and Katsuki can go on their morning run. Then the events of the last 24 hours hit him like a slap to the face, and he falls heavily back onto his bed to take a moment to just… process. This is really happening. All of this is really happening. He’s going to get up, get dressed, and meet his childhood hero for their first day of _ training _ together. It feels so much like a dream, but it’s _ real _, and he’s gonna start crying again if he doesn’t calm down. 

Sniffling and wiping at his eyes, Izuku grabs his workout clothes and gets dressed, smile never leaving his face. He’ll get used to this soon, when it becomes a routine, but right now he doesn’t want to. If only for a while, he wants to bask in the excitement and absurdity of it, while it’s still so new. He deserves to have a few happy-freakouts every once in a while. 

Almost as soon as Izuku is done getting dressed, he hears the characteristic stomp that is Katsuki coming up the stairs, and he sighs as his door is kicked open. 

“You really don’t have to be so dramatic, Kacchan.” Izuku says, trying not to let the smile slip through his unimpressed stare. Katsuki just huffs at him, leaning casually against the door frame.

“What’s the point of goin’ places if you don’t make a cool entrance? I’ve got style, Izu, you’re just too much of a nerd to see it.” 

Izuku just laughs, walking over to wrap an arm around Katsuki and give him a hug. Katsuki sighs, returning the hug lightly. 

“God, you’re gonna be fuckin’ mushy all day because of this, aren’t you? You always get so emotional! If you cry on All Might again I’m just gonna laugh at you.” Izuku snorts, turning his head into Katsuki’s chest so he can giggle. 

“Shut up, Kacchan, I’m not gonna—… ok, well, I’m probably going to cry a lot, but it’s not going to be _ that _ bad.”

“We both know that’s a lie, Izu. The moment All Might says anything nice to you again you’re gonna start bawling.” Izuku doesn’t say anything to that, because yeah, it’s definitely true.

They’re stopped from more ribbing by Mom calling them both from downstairs for breakfast. Izuku jumps up and takes the steps down two at a time, excitement energizing his movements. The faster they get done with breakfast, the sooner All Might can come pick them up! Katsuki, the show-off, jumps half of them, landing gracefully, but Izuku just blows a raspberry at him. And _ he’s _ the only dork. Sure.

~

The walk to the station is surprisingly normal, at least compared to yesterday. The weather is pleasantly warm, and Izuku is free to ramble at Katsuki and All Might- Yagi, as they go. He’s discussing the hero they say debut yesterday, Mount Lady, and it’s still so incredible to be able to get _ All Might’s _ opinion about some of his speculations. He has so much experience that he provides a completely new perspective to some of Izuku’s suggestions, and his application of practical quirk theory is something else. Maybe even more than the training, Izuku is looking forward to Yagi’s lessons on quirks and strategy in the field. That’s always been one of his favorite subjects. 

Soon, though, Yagi is stopping them in front of a plain-looking building, “Police Station” lettered neatly above the door. Izuku jumps forward to hold the door open for both of them, ignoring Katsuki’s snort, and smiling brightly when Yagi thanks him and steps inside. 

The station is small but lively, the neat line of desks in the back each holding at least one officer and overflowing with paperwork. Nobody seems particularly stressed, just busy. Izuku imagines there’s a lot of paperwork that goes with documenting villain attacks, and even if there aren’t _ that _many high-profile incidents every month, the frequency of them must still be hard to keep up with. 

Izuku doesn’t have very long to gawk, though. After exchanging a few words with a man at the front desk, Yagi leads them past the desks and through a hallway, stopping at the office a few doors down and knocking politely. There’s a muffled “Come in!” before Yagi is opening the door and ushering the two boys inside.

Sitting at a small desk is a tall man with short black hair and kind black eyes. He smiles politely at them, the look turning incredibly fond when he sees Yagi. Yagi smiles as well, taking a seat in the chair in front of the desk and motioning for Izuku and Katsuki to do the same. 

“Naomasa, these are the two boys I told you about. They had an encounter with the villain yesterday, and I wanted to give them time to calm down after all the excitement.” Yagi says, and Naomasa(?) nods, before turning back to Izuku and holding out a hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both! I’m Naomasa Tsukauchi, a friend of Toshi’s. Or, a friend of All Might, just so you know we’re on the same page.” Izuku has to blink a few times before everything registers, and he hurries to shake Tsukauchi’s hand and smile back at him. It’s interesting that the man knows All Might’s true identity, but perhaps unsurprising given their familiarity. 

“I’m Izuku Midoriya!” He says brightly. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Mr. Tsukauchi.” Tsukauchi nods and turns to Katsuki, who doesn’t shake Tsukauchi’s hand, just tips his head respectfully. 

“Katsuki Bakugou. So you gonna report those heroes for being incompetent, or what?”

“Kacchan!” Izuku hisses, elbowing him in the side. Katsuki grunts but doesn’t back down from his statement, and Tsukauchi just laughs, shooting Yagi an amused look.

“Well, no, not really. I’m sorry if that’s what you were hoping for, Bakugou, but right now my job is much more direct. I’m just here to get your statements about each of the attacks so we can log it on the villain’s file and consult it later if anything comes up. What if, say, the villain’s quirk produces some other, delayed effect that still causes significant injury? Having your encounters on record means that situations like those can be dealt with and resources given to help you, as well as adjusting the punishment to fit the damage his crime eventually committed. But, in all likelihood, something like that probably isn’t going to happen.” Tsukauchi gives them another encouraging smile and pulls out a clipboard and pen, before a thought seems to occur to him. 

“Oh! And for the sake of clarity, I’ll mention my quirk. It’s nothing fancy, just something like a ‘lie detector’ that tells me if a person is lying about something. I don’t expect either of you to do that, but I wanted to be transparent.” Izuku and Katsuki both nod, and Tsukauchi settles back into his chair.

“Now, Midoriya, you encountered the villain first, so do you mind giving me your account of what happened?” His voice is prodding but gentle, soft in a way that eases the anxiety climbing up Izuku’s throat. He doesn’t want to relive that experience, but it’s important, so he’ll try. Slowly, Izuku takes a deep, steadying breath, settling his hands in his lap so he can focus on remembering what happened.

“I was- I was walking home, when I went through a small tunnel. I think it was an overpass or, something. There was a- a sewer hole, in the middle of the tunnel, which is how I assume the villain snuck up on me so easily.” Izuku grimaces at the memory of that grating voice cheerfully telling him to struggle and die, and he takes another deep breath. 

“He came up and surrounded me with his— body, I guess? Since it was obviously a mutation quirk. He was trying to suffocate me, and then he would take over my body to escape, I- I think. It was hard to focus, I was freaking out and I couldn’t breathe.”

Tsukauchi hums, jotting down a few notes before looking up. “Do you remember how you escaped? Toshi mentioned that you were actually free from the villain when he arrived.”

At first, Izuku is confused, because that doesn’t sound right. All Might definitely saved him! Except, now that he thinks about it, something… weird, happened, before All Might showed up. He was so dizzy from oxygen deprivation and terror that he didn’t stop to think about it at the time, but something did happen.

“I… I’m having trouble remembering.” He says, voice edged with worry. “When he had me, the only thing I was thinking about was getting air, being able to breathe. I know something happened, but…” Izuku wracks his brain, pushing past the sweaty, panicky feelings that come from reliving that situation, and he remembers very suddenly that _ pressure _ in his chest, the wobbly feeling he got before he somehow _ pushed _ the villain out. Curiously, Izuku puts a hand on his chest and stares at it with a pinched expression. 

“I did something, but I don’t know how. I think I- it felt like there was a pressure in my chest, and then something pushing up inside of me, and I— uh, I threw the villain back up.” He says the last part a bit sheepishly, embarrassed over being so crass. Tsukauchi is looking at him quizzically, and even Katsuki seems confused.

“Was this perhaps an expression of your quirk?” Tsukauchi asks. Izuku sighs. 

“I don’t have a quirk, actually. I’m a half-gem.” And he tugs the collar of his t-shirt down a little, exposing the top of his gem. Tsukauchi’s eyes widen slightly, before his expression turns to a more considering one. 

“I apologize, I had forgotten. Toshi told me, but I’m just so unused to actually meeting any gems that the idea is a little foreign.” Tapping his pen against the clipboard, Tsukauchi glances at Yagi, then back to Izuku. 

“Are you sure it doesn’t have anything to do with your gem? Shapeshifting, maybe?”

It takes Izuku a moment to process the last part of Tsukauchi’s statement, and when he does his eyes widen. “Shapeshifting?” Izuku says, voice high with disbelief, and Yagi seems to startle at his tone.

“You… didn’t know gems can do that?” Yagi says gently, and Izuku throws his hands up. 

“Of course I didn’t! I’ve never met another gem in my life! How do either of you know?” And it’s less exasperation and more pain that colors his voice, pain that comes from living his whole life knowing next to nothing about his other half, where apparently people who aren’t even gems still manage to understand more than him.

To his credit, Yagi only looks pained as well, and that stifles some of Izuku’s anger. He puts his hands back into his lap, ashamed of his outburst, and Yagi puts a comforting hand on his arm. 

“It’s alright, my boy, you have every right to be frustrated. I promised you answers, and I assure you I’ll give them to you when we have more time. For right now, let’s finish this, and then we can talk, yes?” Yagi’s tone is kind, and it calms Izuku further until he nods tightly. They’re going to talk about it later, he can wait. This is more important in the moment. 

Seemingly unbothered by the outburst, Tsukauchi gently brings him back to the moment. “I’ll put it down as reflexive quirk usage, ok Midoriya?” Izuku nods. “Alright. Now, Bakugou…”

~

Regardless of the emotional drama Izuku seems to generate wherever he steps, Tsukauchi is efficient and kind, and they’re finished within an hour. He feels drained, and Katsuki doesn’t look much better, but still they plod along after Yagi.

“Now, boys, I know that may have been a bit emotionally taxing-”

“You think?” Katsuki huffs, but Yagi just rolls his eyes and continues.

“But I have just the way to cheer you up!” He says brightly, and Izuku perks up despite himself.

Thirty minutes later, Izuku and Katsuki are staring dumbfounded at a trash-covered beach. Slowly, Izuku turns and gives Yagi an incredulous look. “How, exactly, was this supposed to cheer us up?”

“Yeah, this place is a fuckin’ dump. Literally.” Katsuki says, kicking a nearby can and watching it sail into a pile of broken appliances. It makes a loud ringing noise when it strikes a broken microwave, and they both wince. Yagi just laughs and claps both boys on the back.

“This is going to be part of your training, of course!” He says, smiling at both of them, though there’s a glint of something mischievous in his eye that Izuku doesn’t trust at all. 

“We’re going to be picking up garbage? What the hell old man?!” Katsuki looks like he’s about to work himself up for real, and Izuku quickly throws an arm around him and shushes him.

“I have to admit, Yagi, I’m also a little confused. Why this?” He asks gently, still trying to get Katsuki to quit fussing and listen. Yagi gives them a sly smile, gesturing with one big hand to all the trash strewn along the beach. 

“You see, Midoriya, the beach is a perfect place to start. The trash is heavy— there are broken microwaves and TVs, but also fridges and car parts. The stacks are unstable and falling apart, and the damage to the beach is expansive. It’s the perfect place to practice safety, control, and increasing your base strength!”

So, you two,” Yagi motions dramatically, “are going to clean up this whole beach. By yourselves. And you only have _ ten months _.”

Well. No one said it would be easy, right?

~

There’s a lull, between the outlining of their training plan and when they actually start, and Izuku appreciates this. It not only gives him a little time to prepare, but also to confront Yagi about, well... the whole gem thing. He’s barely been able to hold himself back from the barrage of questions threatening to spill out of him, and he can’t keep it down much longer.

Once again they’re situated in Izuku’s living room, Katsuki running back home to grab some more clothes and extra towels (when your sweat is flammable you have to take a lot of precautions), and Izuku is shuffling around awkwardly in front of Yagi. Finally, the hero sighs and pats the seat next to himself, motioning for Izuku to sit down, which he does quickly. He’s so anxious and excited and scared, it’s a tumultuous combination that he doesn’t help his ability to think clearly.

Yagi takes a deep breath, breathing it back out slowly, before he turns to Izuku with a weak smile. “I really am sorry I couldn’t start explaining things sooner, my boy. I’m sure it must have been frustrating.” Izuku nods tightly, struggling to keep himself calm.

Yagi leans back on the couch cushion, staring up at the ceiling. “Well, where to begin? I suppose I should start with the gem I know, who told me all of this in the first place. Now, this might come as a shock to you, because it’s certainly not common knowledge, but this gem is a hero, actually. He even used to be my sidekick-- do you happen to know the name Sir Nighteye?”

Izuku’s eyes widen, and his hands still in his lap where he was fidgeting. What? _ What? _ A pro hero, All Might’s sidekick for years, is a gem?! His expression must be one of comical disbelief, because Yagi laughs softly. 

“Yes, I know that must be quite a shock. He has his reasons for never revealing his true nature, much of them I’m sure to do with what he saw in our future. You see, Mirai-- and he took a human name when he chose to live as one-- is a “Sapphire” gem, and Sapphires, as he’s told me, can see into the future. It’s a power specific to their type of gem, I believe.” 

Yagi gives him a moment to process that, which is kind of him, though he’ll likely have to do that a lot. Izuku won’t deny that he needs it. He’s always known, of course, that there were other gems. Mom had already told him that, and it seemed fairly self-explanatory conceptually, but to think that other gems might have specific powers too? It just highlights how little he understands about this part of himself, the gaping hole where that knowledge should be. For all he knows, Emeralds have a special power as well, one that he just hasn’t discovered yet, like shapeshifting, and he feels so _ small _in the face of his ignorance. 

Yagi puts a comforting hand on his arm, worry clouding his expression, but Izuku just clenches his fist against the pain and nods for him to continue. He does, voice still gentle.

“Mirai told me many other things about gems, just-- not everything. I know a bit of your history, and your capabilities, but that is all.” Yagi looks truly, deeply regretful, as though it’s a failing of his that he isn’t able to help Izuku more, and Izuku gives him a weak smile that he hopes conveys his thankfulness regardless. 

Yagi looks down at his lap, focusing on recounting as much as he can. “I know that gems come from space, and have been on Earth for well over six thousand years. I know that they used to be ruled by very powerful gems called “the Diamonds,” but that that changed around 200 years ago, though I didn’t ask after the details. I know that all gems can shapeshift, fuse, and summon a weapon, but many gems have powers specific to their type-- Sapphires can see the future of course, but they also have control over ice, Rubies over fire, and some other gems can do things of a similar nature.” When he stops, Izuku almost says something, but he cuts himself off before he can. He doesn’t want to say something rude or heated, not while he’s still processing everything. Yagi has given him more than he was ever able to learn on his own, even if it doesn’t feel like much, and he should be grateful. Gently, Yagi squeezes his arm to get his attention.

“I am truly sorry about how little I can provide you, young Midoriya, but you must understand that at the time this was only to sate my curiosity, perhaps prepare me if ever I were to face a gem in combat. I had no reason then to learn more than the basics. I never could have expected to find my successor in such a place, after all.” And here his expression softens, turning more hopeful.

“I truly do see the makings of greatness in you, Midoriya. Every moment I’ve spent with you so far you have shown incredible kindness and selflessness, and I feel I am fortunate to be the one who will help you on the path to becoming a hero.” Izuku feels his breath catch, his fists unclenching so he can grip his arms tightly. Yagi moves his hand to Izuku’s shoulder, squeezing gently once again.

“I know it’s hard, knowing so little, but don’t worry. We’ll find your answers, and I’ll do my best to be here for you, through all of it.” As Yagi smiles down at him, Izuku feels the damn break, tears spilling over his cheeks as he chokes on a sob. Distantly, he feels Yagi wrap an arm around him and pull him into a hug, but Izuku is too overwhelmed by emotion to really think about it, just hugs Yagi back. He’s going to have questions later, most of which he knows Yagi won’t able to answer, but there will be time for that then. Right now, he’s going to focus on this, on his goals, on becoming worthy of being All Might’s successor. For just a little while, everything else can wait-- this can be enough, for now. 

~

Things truly start up in earnest, after that. Emotional outbursts aside, Yagi admires the work they did before, complimenting their dedication. He starts them on an even stricter diet and workout regimine, outlining a typical day as such: morning run, go to school, work on the beach. Interspersed between each activity are healthy meals and a whole lot of water-- Izuku doesn’t think he’s ever sweat so much in his life. Truly, though, the highlight of every day is the beach.

It really is just as daunting as it seemed it would be— trash covers seemingly every inch of the sand. Some of it is too sharp to be handled without thick gloves, and even with Izuku’s increased strength and stamina from training, it still takes all his energy to lift some things. Still, they work without complaint. Yagi watches their progress from the sidelines, standing by to catch any fallen trash and keep them from hurting themselves in their fervor. 

To be fair, that is a real possibility. He and Katsuki are throwing themselves into their training like hell is at their backs. Some nights Izuku comes home so exhausted he wants to throw up, but he keeps going because he knows it’s going to be worth it. All of it is going to be worth it when the beach is clear and he can prove to All Might that he made the right choice. He’s going to make his body strong enough to support One For All, even if it means ignoring his gem powers, for a time. This is far more pressing, with the entrance exam only months away, and he trusts Yagi-- there’ll be time for it soon. Izuku just knows he can do this, can become worthy of that power. He’ll work as hard as it takes to get there, won’t stop or falter. 

And after 6 agonizing months of constant work, they finally see those results. It’s a Saturday, and Izuku wakes up giddy, throwing on his clothes and eating a quick breakfast before booking it out the door. Last night they were almost done, the beach was almost clear. Only a few more things to drag to the recycling center before it’s _ done _. Izuku can feel the excitement in his veins, pushing him to run faster, which is probably why he trips and falls flat on his ass when he sees it. 

By the wall separating the beach from the street (their normal spot for collecting the trash), Katsuki stands atop a tall pile of it, stretching his arms out and grinning. As soon as he notices Izuku he points at him, smile sharp.

“Get here faster next time, idiot! I’m not lettin’ you take all the glory!” Katsuki laughs, and jumps down off the pile to pull Izuku up from where he’s sitting, shocked, on the ground. Finally he has the sense to be annoyed, and he punches Katsuki in the arm, trying to hide his smile beneath a glare. 

“What the hell Kacchan? Don’t be such a show off!” Katsuki just laughs again, hitting him back, before his expression turns more sincere, driven. 

“Can’t let you get ahead of me, Izu. If I don’t go at it with everything I’ve got, even harder than you, you’re gonna pass me by, and who’s gonna be the new number one hero then, huh?” His voice is light but Izuku can sense the worry and anxiety there, and he pulls Katsuki into a bruising hug before he can complain any more.

“ ‘Course, Kacchan. But don’t forget I’m right behind you too, ok? We’re both gonna get there.” He doesn’t need to say anything for Izuku to know what he feels, hugging Izuku back just as tightly. They stay like that for a while, letting the quiet sound of the waves and the chirping of crickets wash gently over them. 

It’s… it’s good, to know that he’s not pushing Katsuki down, with everything that’s changing. It’s a big responsibility, being All Might’s successor, and a lot of things about it scare him— not just the fact that there’s going to be so much pressure and so many things he’ll have to live up to, but also because of Katsuki. It would kill him if Katsuki started feeling inadequate because of Izuku’s position. Katsuki is someone he loves and respects and looks up to— he’s just as much of a hero to Izuku as All Might is, and it would _ kill _ him to hurt Katsuki, in any way. He wants his friend to stay by him, he wants them to build each other up and force each other to get better just like they always have. It’s a relief to know he hasn’t lost that, not yet.

Izuku doesn’t know how long they stay like that, soaking in the comfort of each other’s presence, before the moment is broken by Yagi’s arrival. He comes up beside them, looking up at that final pile of trash, and rests a hand on both their shoulders, beaming.

“This is excellent, boys! You finished much faster than even I expected.” Yagi’s smile is bright and full of energy, before it turns softer.

“I’m truly so, so proud of both of you. You’ve come so far in your training, and I could not be more lucky to be teaching such fine young heroes. Now,” and he lets them go and steps in front of them, beaming once again as his form fills out into that of All Might.

“Midoriya, Bakugou, it’s time for your real training to begin!” With big, exaggerated movements, All Might brings an arm up to pluck a shiny blonde hair from his bangs, holding it dramatically out to Izuku, who doesn’t really know what’s happening.

“Midoriya, physically you’re finally ready to inherit One For All. So! EAT THIS!” He pushes the hair towards Izuku again, who takes it more on instinct than anything else, while All Might’s words register. 

“I’m- what? Why am I eating your hair?” All Might laughs, though the sound is very slightly strained, and there seems to be a faint flush to his cheeks. Is All Might embarrassed?

“You see, my boy, to inherit my quirk you have to ingest some of my DNA!” There’s a pause, and the flush deepens as he gives Izuku a sideways look. “... This is the least uncomfortable way to do this. Would you rather have to drink my blood?” Izuku squeaks and shakes his head violently, while Katsuki finally starts laughing at him in the background. 

“No, hair is good, hair is fine!” Quickly, he shoves the hair into his mouth and swallows, after some struggling. Katsuki laughs even harder, and even All Might chuckles before giving him a gentle pat on the back. Izuku knew the process might be a little weird, transfer quirks were so unheard of that it had to be something he had never seen before, but eating hair was not high up on his hypothetical list. He feels a little queasy, but he pushes the feeling down. Throwing up would be rude, and he might lose the DNA!

After another gentle pat on the back, All Might shrinks back down to his thin form. “Now, it’s going to take a little while to actually take hold in your body, which is why I’m giving it to you so early. Go home and rest for a while, and we’ll meet back here at noon. Your body may be able to handle having One For All in it now, but using it is…” Yagi grimaces slightly, before plastering on a reassuring smile. “Well, we want to try not to break too many bones, alright?” 

Izuku cringes at the concept, his over-sensitive empathy already suggesting how painful that will be, before he steels his resolve and nods, grabbing Katsuki’s arm and walking them off of the beach. Izuku is probably going to have to force Katsuki to take a nap after staying up all night-- he’s too stubborn to admit any weakness even if he’s obviously tired, but that will be easy. Both of them need to be ready for anything, today, and Izuku will do his best to make sure nothing goes wrong.

~

Immediately, something goes wrong. 

They’re at the beach again, Katsuki looking refreshed from his nap despite all the whining he did trying to get out of it. Izuku is hopeful, but there’s also an undercurrent of anxiety, brought on by just how much energy it feels like there is inside of him. For the last couple of hours he had felt this soft sort of tingling, a buzz under his skin, but it’s stronger now, like he has wasps in his chest and lightning in his veins. There’s so _ much _ of it, the energy, that it’s overwhelming. It’s almost making it hard to breathe, and it’s certainly making it hard to focus on what Yagi is saying. 

The man in question is giving him a look clouded with worry, and Izuku waves him off, muttering a weak apology. “Sorry, I just- this is kind of a lot, actually. It feels like I’m gonna _ burst _. Is this really what it feels like all the time?” Izuku wheezes out, a hand on his chest, cupping his gem. Something about that feels off too, but he can’t really pinpoint what. Yagi looks concerned, though, and that puts him on edge.

“I’m a bit surprised it has taken full effect so quickly.” Yagi says, crouching in front of Izuku and putting a hand on his shoulder. Izuku spares a glance to the side at Katsuki, who looks visibly distressed as well, which is a pretty bad sign. He must look awful if Katsuki is showing concern over it. His chest feels tight, and he turns back to Yagi, expression pinched with discomfort. Yagi looks even more worried, now, great. 

“Could you describe what you’re feeling, Midoriya?” Izuku nods, closing his eyes and focusing on being as articulate as possible despite the writhing discomfort.

“It feels like-- like there’s something humming, or- buzzing, right underneath my skin, and in my chest. Like, lightning coursing through me. My chest feels tight, especially around my gem. It just feels like-- like there’s too much energy inside of me, and that it doesn’t really have anywhere to go.” As he talks, his hand tightens around his gem, and it feels like the energy is centered around it, though he doesn’t understand why. Maybe it’s trying to evenly distribute throughout his body, but since his gem is capable of holding more energy than the rest of him, the energy of One For All is trying to, what, get into his gem? Can it even do that?

Hesitantly, Izuku says as much as well, and Yagi hums, considerate. “Well, that wouldn’t be the strangest thing, I suppose. One For All has never been given to a gem, so a half-gem is bound to experience some… unique situations. It’s just a bit odd that the feeling is constant. I and previous users had to call on One For All’s power specifically to feel it. ” Yagi’s expression is tight with worry, before it softens slightly and he squeezes Izuku’s shoulder. “You’re at least not in any pain, are you?” 

Izuku has to consider that for a moment, before shaking his head no. He’s uncomfortable, on edge, and shaking, but he wouldn’t call it “pain.” It’s actually a feeling very comparable to the adrenaline rush of a panic attack, so he thinks he can probably deal with it. “I think I’ll be fine, but maybe don’t try and teach me anything too complicated today, ok? I just don’t want to-- mess anything up.” He doesn’t want to hurt anybody, he doesn’t say.

Yagi nods in understanding and stands up, wincing at the pop of joints. “Well, we’ll continue with training, but at the first sign of pain stop, alright?” Izuku nods, forcing a grin. Yagi probably can’t tell how fake it is, but Katsuki can read him like an open book, and he comes over to give Izuku’s hand a reassuring squeeze, which helps make the smile a little more genuine. He doesn’t know what he’d do if he didn’t have Katsuki here to fall back on.

Training with One For All inside him is difficult, to put it lightly. Yagi takes them through a set of stretches that should be as easy as breathing by now, but instead leave him sweating and gasping, his body struggling to keep itself together every time he moves. He feels pulled taut, like any one stressor could break him, and he has to sit down for a few minutes and drink an entire bottle of water after that to even feel ready enough to try and stand back up. 

“Midoriya, are you sure you’re alright?” Yagi asks him gently, worry coloring his voice. Izuku huffs, setting the empty bottle in his backpack and standing up with a grunt. The world spins for a moment before he steadies himself.

“I’ll be- I’ll be fine, Yagi. It’s probably an endurance thing, right? I just need to get strong enough not to notice it.” Izuku’s shaky voice and even shakier posture probably aren’t doing him any favors convincing Yagi that they should continue. Predictably, Yagi shakes his head in response. 

“No, Midoriya, I think we need to stop. You’re obviously responding to this power in a way I hadn’t expected, and we should adjust your training because of that. Before we can safely continue we should figure out how to calm you down.”

Despite Izuku’s best efforts, the mix of exhaustion and false-adrenaline that One For All seems to be pumping his body full of are doing a very good job mimicking a panic attack, and that tiny hint of rejection he feels from Yagi’s comment balloons in his mind into full-blown panic. He feels it happening in slow-motion, feels his chest tighten and his throat close up, feels his limbs lock up and tremble, tears spill down his face. He can barely choke out a sob before he’s stumbling and falling forward, and it’s only because of Katsuki that he doesn’t hit the sand.

“Shit!” Katsuki hisses, and Izuku hears him only distantly. “Shit, Izu- what’s happening, tell me what’s happening. What’s going on in there?” Katsuki’s voice is urgent but soft, and he’s holding Izuku very securely in his lap, a hand coming up to card through his hair. It would help immensely, normally, but right now his panic is fueled by something he can’t control or tamp down on, and that’s making it very hard to calm down. 

Izuku chokes on another sob, and it’s so hard to breathe, and he’s trying to breathe slowly, but he can barely get any air past the tightness in his throat so he’s only sucking in tiny, quick breaths that just make his heart beat faster. His chest hurts so much, like there’s nothing there, like it’s going to burst, and everything feels like too much, like he’s going to vibrate out of his skin. 

It hurts and hurts and keeps hurting, and maybe he’s moving but he doesn’t really know.

His hands paw uselessly at his throat and his gem, and he just wants it to stop, wants there to stop being so _ much _, doesn’t want to be feeling so much, he needs the energy to get smaller, to go somewhere-- and then there’s a feeling in his chest, like a valve opening, and suddenly it isn’t so tight, anymore. His chest feels lighter, his gem warm. Every sensation comes to him distantly, but now that the pressure is gone he can focus on breathing slowly, on loosening the tightness still in his throat. It takes a few long minutes but soon he’s breathing evenly in Katsuki’s lap, no longer crying. 

Hesitantly, Izuku opens his eyes (and god, they always burn after crying) squinting up at Katsukis face and- oh. Oh no. Izuku reaches a hand up, cupping Katsuki’s cheek. “Kacchan, you never cry, are you ok?” He says quietly, voice hoarse. Katsuki’s expression pinches even further, and he closes his eyes and pulls Izuku up into a tight hug. 

“You fucking idiot, I was- we were so fucking _ worried _.” Izuku wraps his arms around Katsuki and hugs him back weakly. 

“Why?” He says into Katsuki’s shoulder. “This happens- sometimes. You know that.” Izuku doesn’t try saying much more, his voice rough and scratchy and painful, but he wants to know what has Katsuki so upset. Katsuki seems even more upset by his question, though, hugging Izuku even tighter before leaning back and glaring at him with red, puffy eyes.

“You were catatonic for almost 45 fucking minutes, Izu! We had to take you home, and Aunt Midoriya was about to call the goddamn hospital!!” That’s when Izuku finally registers where he is, looking blearily around and seeing his own living room, he and Katsuki seated on the couch. 

“Oh.” He says, voice weak with realization. 

“Don’t fucking ‘oh’ me, what the hell even was that?! You’ve never freaked out that badly before.” Now, Izuku can hear something like fear breaking through the anger in Katsuki’s voice, and he feels… he feels really, really bad for scaring him like that-- him and Mom and Yagi. Struggling to hold back more tears, Izuku leans into Katsuki’s chest, head turned into his shirt to muffle him if he does start crying again.

“ ‘M sorry Kacchan.”

“Shut the fuck--! God, Izu, just- only you could apologize for something like that.” Katsuki pulls Izuku away from his chest to look at him clearly, and Izuku doesn’t bother trying to look away, knowing Katsuki would just turn him manually. 

“Listen, idiot. You’re not in trouble because you had a really bad panic attack. I’m just-- I’m worried about you. So are Auntie and Yagi, but I figured it would be easier to explain whatever the fuck that was to me first rather than the person you’ve had an idol-boner for all your life.” Izuku huffs and glares at that last part, but he will admit that it’s easier to talk to Katsuki about what he’s feeling than anyone else. After a moment Izuku nods, leaning back into the couch cushion so Katsuki can still see his face.

Katsuki nods back, smiling like he always does when he knows he’s right (though it’s noticeably strained, now), and he starts carding his hands through Izuku’s hair. “Yagi and Auntie know you’re ok now, but they’re gonna wait a little bit before bothering us ‘cuz I told ‘em to give you time to explain first. So get on with it!” Izuku huffs out a little laugh and nods, closing his eyes to enjoy the sensation of fingers in his hair. How to describe what happened…

“Well, I’ll start off by saying that it definitely didn’t feel like 45 minutes. Everything just started blending together because I was freaking out so badly.” Izuku pauses and Katsuki just hums, his way of gently letting Izuku know he should keep going. Katsuki always saves his comments for when it looks like Izuku is done explaining, and it helps keep him focused, so he continues.

“It was like-- you heard me explain what One For All felt like, right? The buzzing and the energy and the tight chest?” Katsuki nods. “Well, that felt like-- all those things feel like what I feel when I’m having a panic attack. So when I got really stressed out after being really tired, it kind of just… triggered a real one.” Izuku is quiet for longer this time, just leaning into Katsuki’s touch and breathing deeply. He didn’t really process it before, but his whole body aches, now. His eyes burn and his arms ache and his throat hurts. When this is all done, he’s going to take a long nap.

Katsuki hums again, still moving his fingers through Izuku’s hair. “Well, why was it so much worse than the ones you’ve already had?” He says gently. Izuku frowns, and considers that.

“It might have been because the stuff with One For All wouldn’t stop. So all those symptoms that make me panic were being triggered by something I couldn’t control, and it was _ constant _, so I couldn’t calm myself down. I was trying early on, I think, but it wasn’t working because of that.”

“Wait, if you couldn’t control it, what made it stop?” Katsuki says, voice still quiet but a note of confusion breaking through. Izuku pauses again, wracking his brain for the answer, when his hand comes up to rub idly at his gem and he remembers something.

“I think…” He starts hesitantly, “I think the energy went into my gem. Did my gem glow at all while I was still having the attack?” Katsuki nods slowly, eyebrows drawn together to show that it’s still not really making sense, buddy. Izuku laughs a little hysterically.

“It doesn’t really make sense, I know, but that’s my best guess for what happened. I guess the only way to test it would be to just…” And Izuku closes his eyes against Katsuki’s angry shout, searching for that core of energy that is his gem. He finds it easily, putting a mental hand to its surface and pulling, just a little. When he feels a jolt of energy run through him, just as strong as before, he shoves it back into his gem quickly, sighing when the energy fades. Katsuki is giving him a pretty ferocious glare when he opens his eyes, but he just scratches the back of his neck and smiles.

“You know I would have done it at some point or other, might as well figure it out now.” Katsuki hits him lightly on the arm, still glaring. 

“I’m pretty sure any time _ other _ than right after an exhausting, hour-long panic attack would have been a better time, idiot!” He’s right, but Izuku is saved from having to respond by Mom bursting into the room, Yagi following close behind. Both of them look incredibly concerned, but his mom is practically wailing, her eyes puffy from crying, and she runs over to pull him into a hug.

“Izuku, honey, I’m so glad you’re ok! When Katsuki brought you back in that state I didn’t know what to think!” Her grip is strong but gentle, and Izuku returns the hug happily, burying his head into her shoulder. 

“I promise I’m ok now, Mom. Just tired, and uh, thirsty.” He says, voice muffled by her sweater. She pulls away from him with a little “oh!” and, surprisingly, turns to give Yagi a withering look. The man jumps, actually _ jumps _ , and hurries off in the direction of the kitchen, returning with a pitcher of water and a few glasses. It seems like Mom and Yagi had another conversation about _ something _, and Izuku doesn’t really need to guess who came out on top there. He’s glad they’re friends now, if Mom is okay with bossing Yagi around.

She turns back to him, focusing some of that glare on him even as she hands him a cup of water and encourages him to drink. “Now, Izuku, you know I would never stand in the way of your dreams,” she says as he starts sipping gingerly at the water, “but if this happens again, some changes are going to have to be made. I don’t want you hurting yourself for this, ok? I can’t stand to see you in pain the way I did, Izuku. I won’t let that become normal for you.” 

She waits until he’s done with the water to take both his hands in her, holding them to her chest. “You’re my son, Izuku, I love you so very, very much, and I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to destroy yourself for this, even if you think that’s ok. I know it’s going to be dangerous, and you’re going to get hurt regardless, but I want you to do everything you can to prevent that. Your health, your comfort, those matter too. Do you understand?” 

Izuku looks into her eyes, puffy from crying, and he sees such steel in them that it almost leaves him reeling. He loves his mom more than anything, but sometimes he forgets how much she’s lost to have him, how important he is to her-- not just because of that but because he’s… hers. Sniffling at the wave of emotion that takes him, Izuku gives her a watery smile. 

“Yeah, Mom. I understand. I love you too.” She nods tightly before pulling him into another firm, warm hug, and Izuku thinks he’s going to be ok.

~

The next day, Izuku is feeling somewhat better. Katsuki spent the night to keep an eye on him (and maybe assuage his own fears about Izuku’s safety, but he’ll never admit it) and insisted that Izuku not set his alarm. Izuku had relented, assuming he would wake up early out of habit anyway, but surprisingly, he sleeps through the whole early morning, waking up around ten. Yesterday was exhausting, but he didn’t really think about how much he needed that sleep until he had gotten it. 

When he walks blearily down the stairs into the kitchen, Katsuki jumps up and pulls him into a quick one-armed hug, grinning at him. “Told you you’d need the extra sleep, dork!” Izuku laughs and hugs him back, going to grab a glass of water before sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Yeah yeah, you’re always right Kacchan, I know. Do we have any pears left?” He’s still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, so he startles a little when Mom sets one in front of him and lovingly ruffles his messy hair. He smiles at her and thanks her quietly, before biting into the pear. It’s already looking like today will be better-- or at least calmer, hopefully. 

In the afternoon, Yagi comes over, looking exhausted, but he brightens up when he sees Izuku at the door. “Midoriya! I’m so glad you’re looking well. Are you feeling any better?” Yagi says as he steps inside, hanging his jacket on the coat rack.

“I think I am, actually! I slept in, which helped a lot.” Yagi nods at that, still smiling, and they settle into the living room for tea, discussing what they’ll be doing for training considering yesterday’s events. Izuku is firm in that he wants to continue.

“Really, I promise I feel fine! I figured out whatever it was that was happening, I think, so it won’t happen again.” Unsurprisingly, everyone looks pretty unconvinced.

“You were like, seriously fucked up for a while there Izu. I don’t know if you should be working so soon after that.” Katsuki says into his tea, not facing him. Izuku gapes at him, feeling a little betrayed, even if part of him knows Katsuki only has his best interests in mind. Mom nods, setting her tea down on the coffee table in front of them.

“I agree with Katsuki on this, Izuku, and I believe Yagi does as well.” At a look, Yagi nods, and she continues. “I think maybe it would be best for you to take a break, don’t you think?” Her voice is kind, but Izuku feels something angry and hurt curl up in his stomach at the dismissal. It’s irrational, he knows it’s irrational, but he can’t help the feeling.

“I don’t… what if I don’t train with One For All, and I just practice with my gem?” His voice sounds weak and whiny even to his own ears, but he has to say something, he can’t just sit around. “Like fusing, and using my gloves, and maybe shapeshifting. I just-- I can’t do _ nothing _ all day. I’ve been working towards this for years, I can’t bear to stop now. Please?” Izuku turns pleading eyes on his mom and Yagi, hoping they understand how important this is to him. He really wouldn’t be able to handle the down-time, he’s been training almost constantly for over two years now and just the concept makes him itch to move, to do something.

Finally, Yagi tips his head back and sighs, throwing an arm up in defeat. “Alright, alright. As long as you don’t push yourself, this should be acceptable training. Ms. Midoriya?” Yagi turns to her, giving her the final say in the matter, and she looks like she wants to protest, but she just sighs too, shaking her head.

“Yes, well, as long as you’re being very careful, Izuku. And you take frequent breaks, and drink plenty of water!” She’s barely finished speaking before Izuku has her wrapped up in a grateful hug, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. 

“Thanks Mom! I love you!” He says brightly, before jumping up and grabbing Katsuki’s wrist, pulling him upstairs so they can change. Whatever he gets to do today, he’s excited for it. Having a calm start to the day was nice, but he needs to expend the energy he built up waiting all afternoon, so that means going out now!

Despite the fact that Katsuki manages to bully him into slowing down, it doesn’t take long for them all to get to the beach. The sand is clean and smooth, sparkling in the midday sun, and that sends a burst of pride through Izuku. He didn’t really get to appreciate his hard work yesterday, after all. It’s nice to have had a tangible effect on the world, changing it for the better. It helps remind him that his efforts are getting him somewhere.

Thankfully, even though the beach is gorgeous now, not many people come to it, and it’s fairly easy to find a secluded spot to train in. Yagi leads him and Katsuki through a set of stretches like yesterday, though they seem to be moving at a suspiciously slow pace, glancing back at him often. Izuku chooses not to say anything, not wanting to seem petulant, and even he has to admit that the easier pace is nice after such an exhausting few days. 

Once they’re done warming up, Yagi sits down neatly in the sand and pats the two spaces in front of him, encouraging the two to sit. When they do, he clears his throat roughly.

“Alright, now. Boys. From here on, your training is going to be diverging significantly, not least because Midoriya now has One For All. I’ll be doing my best to teach you, but much of what we’re going to be doing, we’ll also be learning together.” He pauses for a breath, before turning to Katsuki.

“Bakugou, you know your quirk better than anyone. I trust you can come up with some things you think you can improve, and I can help you work through those problems in a constructive way.” Katsuki nods firmly, hands clenched into fists, and Yagi looks up into the distance. He pauses for a long time, deep in thought, before he finally turns to Izuku, gaze heavy. Izuku tries to give him an encouraging smile, but it feels wobbly at best.

“And Midoriya. I can’t apologize enough for what happened yesterday. It was never my intention to cause you any pain, but you also have to understand that One For All is powerful, and volatile. It can be very difficult to control when you start out, and there’s a high probability that you might break an arm or a leg trying to use it too quickly.” Yagi puts a hand on his shoulder, his expression lightening. 

“My goal right now is to let the power of One For All settle, and to train you in the abilities afforded you by your gem-half. We’ll give your body time to adjust and learn what all you can do without activating your new quirk before we start training with it, alright?”

Izuku nods vigorously, not trusting his voice not to crack if he responds too quickly. He feels bright and excited and energized-- not like when One For All was activated, thankfully-- but just like he’s ready to do anything. When his heart settles a little more, he beams and stands up, pumping a fist in the air. 

“Let’s do this!!”

~

They spend two months training like that. At first, Katsuki was focusing training on his hands, but after an offhand comment from Izuku about sweat glands on the feet he’s also started experimenting with adding kicks to his explosive arsenal. It’s exciting, seeing Katsuki improving so much. As for Izuku, he’s been hard at work getting a handle on his gem powers. 

Fusion is easy, it was the first thing he ever learned how to do. One obstacle for it might be finding people to fuse with, but that’s something he can only deal with as it comes. Summoning his gloves is almost as easy now too, but he’s been trying to experiment with it by forming them in different colors or with different thickness of the pads on his fingers. It’s possible, but it’s difficult to make them come out exactly how he imagines, and the changes have only been minor so far. The thing that he’s really having the most trouble with is, obviously, shapeshifting.

It’s just so hard to imagine his body as anything other than… solid. Izuku has spent hours pouring over anatomical and medical texts, wanting to understand the human body in as much detail as possible so he can be more competent at first aid. The human body is flesh and bone and blood, not… light. He remembers, distinctly, the feeling of his body _ warping _ when he ejected the sludge villain, how easy it moved, but recreating that feeling when his brain screams at him that it’s impossible is another thing entirely. So far, he’s really only managed to make himself thinner and taller, and that still takes a lot out of him.

Izuku tries not to let himself get dejected about his slow progress. He’s happy for Katsuki’s rapid progress, even if sometimes a little burning pinprick of jealousy threatens to claw its way up his throat and make him feel miserable. He shoves that down whenever he feels it. He’s proud of Katsuki, his best friend has worked incredibly hard for this and his progress has nothing to do with Izuku’s stalling. Maybe he just needs a change of pace-- he suggests as much to Yagi one day as they’re finishing warm-ups.

“Oh? Do you think you’re ready, Midoriya?” His tone isn’t one of disbelief, just a healthy reticence. They all remember what happened when Izuku tried using One For All too early. But Izuku nods firmly, clenching a fist in front of him.

“Yes! I’ve had time to adjust, and every time I accidentally pull too much energy from my gem and feel One For All it gets easier and easier to deal with. I think I can start training with it!” Yagi smiles softly at his excitement, huffing out a quiet laugh.

“Yes, well, if you’re sure you’re ready. Let’s start by just summoning it, alright? But try just a portion, instead of all of it.” Izuku nods again, sitting down cross-legged on the sand as Yagi does the same. 

Slowly, Izuku takes a deep breath, holds it for several seconds, and breathes out. He does this a few times, until his heartbeat has calmed and he feels grounded, in control of himself. Cautiously, like it might burn him, he reaches inside for that bright spot of light that is his gem and puts a hand to it, coaxing out some of the energy from inside. Immediately, One For All fills his body with the crackling, buzzing, lighting-energy, but it’s more manageable this time, a fraction of what he knows is there.

Again, he breathes in and out, before cracking his eyes open and looking down at himself. Nothing seems very different at first, but every few seconds Izuku catches the tiniest of green bolts jumping up and dancing across his skin before vanishing back into him. He beams, puffing out his chest in pride, and Yagi hums encouragingly.

“Very good! You seem to be able to summon a portion of it small enough for your body to maintain for a little while. Now,” and Yagi stands up, motioning for Izuku to follow, “can you hold it while moving?”

Izuku moves to comply, and finds that it is actually quite hard to hold all that energy in his limbs while he’s focusing on anything else. As he stands up, he feels some of the energy rush out of him, and he has to scramble to pull it back, barely managing not to fall back down in the process. Yagi laughs, and Izuku huffs before the smile returns to his face. 

“Try to hold that power while going through your stretches, and then when that feels natural and easy, we can work on actually letting that power out!” It sounds simple enough, but Izuku presumes it’s easier said than done. It is. 

For the next few weeks, Izuku practices keeping One For All active every day. He does stretches, runs, and sometimes spars with Katsuki, just trying to keep up with the movements without losing his grip on One For All. It’s tiring, but in a good way, the kind of exhaustion he knows he earned. As soon as he has a more than tentative grip on One For All, Yagi starts training him to release that energy in punches and kicks. It’s embarrassingly hard for him to control.

With only a few weeks left until the entrance exam, Izuku is left scrambling to get a hold of this power without breaking his arms. When the exam is days away, he can reliably punch through a metal board without breaking anything, but it drains his energy focusing so much on controlling every aspect of his power. But he’s gotten so far in the last ten months, farther than he had gotten in even two years. He can only hope it’s enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that didn't feel rushed, I just wanted to get through this part of the story so I can start introducing new characters next chapter! I hope all of you are excited for the entrance exam and our introduction to class 1-A :DD I edited this pretty fast too, so if there are any glaring errors don't be shy about pointing them out. 
> 
> Also, Toshi and Inko are BFFs. Toshi comes over for dinner like once a week if not more, and Inko gives him all the latest neighborhood gossip while Toshi fills her in on funny hero-happenings. I couldn't figure out where to fit this into the story yet but just trust me. They are peak wlw mlm solidarity, you cannot change my mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exams can be very exciting under the right circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out this incredible fanart of Kizuku!!! 
> 
> https://tabbyfeathers.tumblr.com/post/189707075313/whats-ur-credit-card-number-i-dont-post-art-a
> 
> It's truly amazing, and it's also my first ever piece of fanart which means I am just 10x more honored to receive it. This double update goes out to you Arin, thank you so much!  
(P.S. it's not explained in the fic super well but Izuku's gem is on his chest beneath his collarbone! I'll try and be more clear about descriptions in the future. The artist still did an amazing job <3)

The day of the entrance exam, Izuku wakes up so nervous he’s almost sick. There’s a jittery, fluttery anxiety rooting itself deep inside him, and Izuku resigns himself to it, at least for now. Maybe Katsuki or Mom can help calm him down. Quickly, Izuku dresses in his school uniform, packing up the nice new workout clothes his mom helped him pick out (“you want to make a good impression, don’t you Izuku?”) and runs downstairs to start on breakfast. He may have woken up a little too early because of the nerves, and he doesn’t want to bother Mom, so he just puts a few servings of rice in the rice cooker and heats up some leftover miso on the stove.

A little while later, Izuku is eating his breakfast (he’s proud of how well it turned out, the eggs he made to go with his rice were perfect), with the miso staying warm on low heat and the rice fluffed up in the rice cooker. Mom comes down a little bit later and starts the coffee maker, thanking Izuku and giving him a kiss on the cheek when he tells her he made breakfast. He smiles, feeling some of the anxiety melt away.

It’s another few minutes of calm before someone is opening the door, and Katsuki trudges inside and immediately wraps his arms around Izuku from behind, hugging him tightly. Izuku laughs, squeezing one of Katsukis arms back, and gently points him to the stove. He had thought Katsuki might be a little nervous, too, but he hadn’t expected him to be so open about it. It’s nice, though, that Katsuki is letting himself have a need for that kind of comfort more now.

Breakfast is a somewhat quiet affair, after that. His mom tries to make small talk but he and Katsuki are just too keyed up to be of much use to the conversation, and eventually she gives up, giving them both a kiss on the head when they finish up and get ready to leave.

“Both of you are going to be amazing, I know it. Just do your best and you’ll be fine, ok?” Mom gives them both one last hug before he and Katsuki have to leave. Before they head for the train station they stop by Katsuki’s place, letting his parents say their goodbyes now that they’ve finally woken up (the Bakugou’s are later risers than their son, which is why they don’t mind him hanging out at Izuku’s so much-- less banging around in the kitchen, apparently). 

Finally, they’re on their way to the station, when Katsuki stops abruptly and grabs Izuku’s hand. He stands there for a long, quiet moment, and Izuku backs up to stand a little closer, not minding the tight grip.

“Something wrong, Kacchan?” He says softly, squeezing Katsuki’s hand back. Katsuki makes that pinched expression that means he’s having a hard time articulating something emotional, before he lets out a breath.

“Can I-- can we fuse, on the way there? Just… we haven’t been Kizuku as much, lately, and I think it would help, being something familiar. Since you’re so fuckin’ nervous and all.” He says, a little roughly, and Izuku beams. 

“Of course! That’s such a good idea Kacchan!” Still grinning, Izuku twists the hand Katsuki is holding until they can fit their fingers together. “Ready?”

“Yeah, ‘m ready.” Katsuki murmurs, already closing his eyes. Izuku nods and leans into him with a sigh, feeling them fall together until the light fades and Kizuku stands on the sidewalk. Grinning like a dope, Kizuku stretches a bit, shaking his arms out to ground himself, and starts walking. 

It’s such a nice day, so he just enjoys the walk and let’s himself soak up the quiet of the morning and the pleasant warmth of being fused. The station isn’t far, but Kizuku takes a longer route just to make the walk last longer (and maybe, just a bit, to delay the inevitable arrival to UA), and when he gets there thankfully the train car isn’t too crowded. 

Kizuku spends the ride in relative silence, focusing on soothing the ever-growing anxiety that Izuku is feeling. As they get closer to UA it gets harder to stay calm, to keep himself from mumbling, and he can feel Katsuki’s mounting frustration (anything to keep him from focusing on his own anxiety) at Izuku’s dread. He takes a few more deep breaths, hand pressed lightly to his chest. It’s going to be ok. Objectively, there’s a very high chance that it’s going to be ok. The rational part of him (of both of them) knows this, and he starts running through their advantages to calm himself down.

They have two years of independent training as well as almost a year of intensive guided training under their belts. All Might may not be the _ perfect _ teacher, but there’s no doubt that he’s an incredible hero with years of experience who has improved them both in ways they couldn’t have managed alone. They are stronger, smarter, and more prepared. It’s going to be _ ok. _

Finally a little calmer, Kizuku sighs as the train creaks to a halt. The school’s campus is only a short walk from the station, which at least means he can’t work himself up into another fit before they actually arrive. Other students crowd the sidewalk as he walks, no doubt prospective UA attendees as well. Some of them look like they have pretty incredible physical quirks too and- no! Kizuku smacks himself mentally, turning his eyes back to the sidewalk in front of him. He can’t start analyzing now, he’ll psych himself up and get even more anxious about the competition! Just, keep moving forward.

Thankfully, that works for the most part. Kizuku manages not to start mumbling theories long enough to actually make it to the front entrance-- an enormous gate bordered by thick walls, which is currently wide open. Taking one last deep breath, Kizuku takes his first step onto campus, before realizing that he should probably unfuse, actually.

“Oh! Ah, shit, would have been awkward unfusing in front of registration.” He mumbles, before closing his eyes and letting himself split apart with a wobbly flash of light. Izuku stumbles a bit as he exits the fusion, feeling his nerves ratchet up immediately after Katsuki’s familiar presence is gone from his mind. Katsuki is by his side instantly, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him into a quick, tight hug.

“Ah, sorry Kacchan, I’m just a little- off balance.” Izuku mutters, feeling himself flush with embarrassment as more anxiety climbs up his throat. Katsuki just huffs and ruffles his hair, still holding him in the hug.

“Shut up, it’s fine. You’re allowed to be nervous about important shit, even if we’re definitely gonna crush this exam. Just- don’t let it get to you too bad. I might not be with you for the practical to calm you down, yeah?” Katsuki looks a little pained at this, hiding it behind indifference, but Izuku knows it just means he’s nervous too. Giving Katsuki a quick squeeze in return, he nods, and they start walking towards the entrance.

It feels a bit surreal that Izuku is about to walk up the steps of UA and actually try to get in. It’s been his dream for so long that it’s abstracted into a sort of formless goal. He’ll get into UA "someday,” because that’s his dream, but it stopped feeling like a real thing he has to do the longer he aspired towards it. Now, though, everything comes rushing back to him, the reality of his accomplishments and the _ possibility _ of attaining his goals. It’s incredible, and overwhelming, and a little difficult to grasp at the moment.

He’s so busy processing the shift in his whole reality that he doesn’t notice a raised crack in the concrete in front of him, which his foot hits and he immediately pitches forward. He instinctively throws his hands out to catch himself at the same time that he feels a pressure on his arm and something pulling on his backpack. And he’s… not falling anymore, he’s floating. 

“Oh, I’m sorry for using my quirk on you! I guess you didn’t need my help, if your friend caught you. Still, it would have been bad luck to trip on the first day!” A bright, bubbly voice says to his right, and Izuku looks up at the sound, his breath catching. At his side is the cutest girl he’s ever seen, brown hair framing a round face and rosy cheeks. She’s smiling at him, though it seems a little strained, and a low growl to his left tells him why. 

Katsuki is on his left, hand fisted in Izuku’s backpack and glaring fiercely at the girl. Oh, gosh. Izuku knows Katsuki’s nervous, but he doesn’t have to take it out on someone just trying to help. Still processing the situation, Izuku scrambles to get his feet back on the ground and stand up, feeling his weight settle as the floaty feeling finally leaves.

“T-thanks for helping! We appreciate it. Good luck on the exam!” Izuku throws an arm around Katsuki’s neck and squeezes to keep him from saying anything crass, emphasizing the “we” as he says it. The girl’s smile brightens, and she waves at them as she starts walking away. 

“Of course, good luck to you too!” It’s only when she’s through the entrance doors that Izuku lets go of Katsuki, rolling his eyes at his grumbling.

“You didn’t have to be rude, she was just trying to help! I was the one that tripped.” He says, taking Katsuki’s hand again and leading him up the steps. Katsuki huffs and looks off to the side. 

“She used her quirk on you, I was trying to analyze the situation. Don’t you want me doing that more, Izu?”

“Well, you didn’t have to growl at her like she was going to bite me!” Izuku says in an exasperated tone, before sighing and shaking his head. “I know you’re worked up over the exam, but you didn’t have to take it out on her. We shouldn’t snap at people so quickly, alright Kacchan?”

At Izuku’s encouraging squeeze, Katsuki relents with a roll of his eyes and nods. Satisfied there’s not going to be an outburst, Izuku finally leads them over to the line for registration. Weirdly, having something else to focus on helped lessen his anxiety a bit. Having control of a situation and talking it out helps, who knew.

~

Registration takes a while, but soon enough they’re being shuffled into exam rooms to take the written portion of the exam. Because injuries (however much UA tries to avoid them) are fairly likely in the practical, the written exam is always taken first, with a break in the middle for lunch and time to change clothes. Unsurprisingly, Izuku flies through it. Being an anxious nerd that stays up studying and has top marks helps a lot, it seems. Some of the higher-level math questions were trickier, but he felt confident about most of his answers. 

When they meet up during break it’s obvious Katsuki feels the same, and it’s a relief to at least be done with it, and happy with the results. They don’t have much time to talk, though, eating their packed lunches quickly so they have time to change and run through a few stretches. As soon as the break ends they’re shoved into another lecture hall to be briefed on the practical exam. 

Izuku doesn’t really know how to feel about Present Mic being the one to give the presentation. He loves the hero plenty, but he brings an energy to the room that doesn’t seem… entirely welcome. The crowd is pretty dead, but Present Mic just keeps on yelling like he’s facing a room full of rabid fans. It’s as endearing as it is embarrassing. 

Regardless of the mood, they finally get an outline of the exam: destroy robots to collect as many points as possible. The robots range from one to three points, with their size and difficulty scaling accordingly. There seems to be a fourth robot silhouette on the presentation that Mic hasn’t explained yet, and he’s just about to ask about it when a harsh, tall, dar- haired boy beats him to it. And admonishes him for mumbling right after. 

Izuku had been feeling pretty good about things, managing his anxiety, but being called out in front of a crowd makes him want to sink into the floor and disappear. He’s so busy picking up the pieces of his resolve that he barely registers them being sent out to their different exam environments-- he and Katsuki won’t be paired up, which is probably a good thing considering how much of a powerhouse Katsuki is going to be in this type of challenge. Though he does mourn the lack of an opportunity for fusion, they likely wouldn’t have been allowed to do that anyway because of possible confusion over point allotment.

The mock-cities they’re dropped off in are imposing things, unsettlingly desolate. Even if it makes sense for the exercise, it’s still weird to see such a crowded cityscape completely devoid of people. The other students in his group are huddled around the entrance, stretching or psyching themselves up. He does a few quick stretches, still warmed up from earlier, when he spots the kid that yelled at him (his hair is blue in the light, which is quite pretty) and instantly feels a hot wash of shame. Wringing his hands, he goes over to apologize, when a hand catches him on the shoulder. 

It’s the girl who caught him in front of the school! She looks a little hesitant before smiling kindly.

“Hey, I just wanted to say good luck again. And that, ah, that guy looks a bit busy, so I wouldn’t bother him, y’know?” She says gently, and Izuku splutters and throws up his hands.

“Oh I-I didn’t even think of-! I’m sorry, I-I wasn’t thinking. Thanks. Good luck t-” Izuku is cut off by Present Mic screaming “Ready! Go!” It’s startlingly sudden, and Izuku freezes for a moment. 

“What, did you expect a countdown? Heroes don’t get that, now go!” And just like that, he’s off like a shot, shooting the girl a quick apologetic wave.

The city is already full of chaos, students displaying an amazing variety of quirks he wishes he could take notes on, but he knows he has to focus. Taking a deep breath, Izuku lets his body fill with a small percentage of One For All, giving the power a moment to settle, before summoning his gloves with as much extra padding as he can muster. Then he starts chasing after robots.

The first few one- and two-pointers go down relatively easily when punches them backed by One For All, but his lack of practice is obvious. His limbs already ache after only five hits, and it’s taking all his strength to keep his focus. Not just that, but the robots are becoming scarce as other students take down more and more of them, and as more of his targets are taken out before he can react, his mind turns frantic. 

He only has eight points, and it’s getting harder to find more. He manages to take down a two-pointer with a punch that breaks off its head, but the move has him gasping after. He can feel his bones creak, feel the ache of his muscles. He has to take a moment to catch his breath, even as his mind is screaming at him to keep going. If he passes out he won’t be able to finish at all, and he won’t let that happen. 

“It’s gonna be ok, Izuku. You still have time to do this, you can still _ do this _.” He wheezes, clutching at his gem.

After a break that feels way too short, Izuku lifts himself up with a grunt and lets power pool back into his limbs, focusing on his legs so he can run faster. He works his way through the streets, taking out two more one-pointers and feeling like death. He’s just stopped for a breath, looped back to a street near the entrance, when the ground shakes, and every student in view snaps their heads up.

Stepping onto the street is a mountain of gleaming metal, splintering the concrete and asphalt beneath it with its sheer weight. It’s the zero-pointer-- not an enemy, but an _ obstacle _. The massive robot swings an enormous hand up and crushes the corner of the nearest building, leveraging itself forward, and Izuku thinks maybe, maybe he should run. He’s just about to turn around when a scream rips through the air with a now familiar voice, and Izuku is running towards it before he realizes what he’s doing.

Up ahead, a scant hundred feet in front of the massive zero-pointer, the girl from before is trapped under an enormous chunk of concrete; it looks like it fell on her legs when the ground shook. She’s struggling to lift herself out, and Izuku’s mind spins with terrifying possibilities. He’s running, but it doesn’t feel like enough, the concrete looks too heavy and the robot is already so _ close _ , but he has to do something, he can’t let someone be hurt, he can’t, but it’s so ** _close_ **.

His mind is reeling, a pressure building up in his chest as he turns his focus on the zero-pointer still advancing. In a few more moments it will crush her, and he-

He needs to stop it. 

Izuku is close enough now, he’s right next to the girl and right in front of the robot, and it’s so so close to her and he has to do something, if he can just get up there, he needs to get _ up there _ \-- and suddenly, he’s pushing power into his legs and shooting into the air. The wind whips around his hair, burning his eyes, but he doesn’t pay it any thought, mind swirling as the pressure keeps building in his chest. He can’t punch it, he’ll break his arm, so he needs-- he needs _ something _ , he needs something to hit it with, a- a _ weapon _. His mind is still spinning blindly when the pressure drops all at once, and light explodes from his gem. 

Izuku is distant from himself, overloaded with adrenaline, but he still feels his hands reach up, feels them grip a firm handle and pull. His gloves disappear in another flash of light as he’s still pulling that long handle out of his gem, until the end pops out and the light starts to fade. He’s holding an enormous hammer, green and yellow stripes spiralling up the tall body and ending on the bright green head, two stylized fists stuck end to end with yellow knuckles. The weight feels right in his hands, but he doesn’t bother giving it any more thought because he’s just arrived above the robot’s head at the zenith of his jump.

There’s no panic as he grips the hammer, raises it high, and slams it down onto the zero-pointer’s head; his mind is blissfully clear. Power crackles, electric, down his arms, pushing the hammer down and crushing the robot even more, wisps of green lightning dancing across the surface. The hammer continues to push the gnarled twists of metal into the robot’s torso, and as Izuku finally rips the hammer back out of its ruined frame it tilts backwards with the force. It tips, and starts to fall. So does Izuku.

Oh, shit. 

As his mind catches up to the last few moments of monumentally reckless decisions, the hammer disappears with a flash, and Izuku starts sailing faster and faster towards the ground. Everything aches, all the energy wrung out of him by the massive amount of power he just used, but he’s aware enough to be freaking the hell out. The concrete gets closer and closer and he doesn’t know what to do, he’s panicking so badly he’s shorting out any rational thoughts, and just when the ground is coming up, he feels a sharp slap to his cheek and all his momentum just stops. 

The lurch is nauseating, but he’s not dead, and when the lightness releases him he falls harmlessly to the ground a few feet beneath him. He hears retching shortly after, and reminds himself to thank that girl profusely just as soon as he wakes up.

Without much fanfare, Izuku passes out.

~

Shota Aizawa likes to think he is a very good at reading people. He has to be, in such a dangerous line of work, where the wrong decision can lead to death (his own or others). Understanding body language, facial expressions and minute ticks, all these things inform him of someone’s personality and can give him a general idea of the way they might act. This is relevant as he watches over some of the practical exams with the other teachers, because one student acts in a way that brings into question his whole nature. 

Izuku Midoriya seems very plain, from his file, with a quirk that has far too little documentation for Shota’s tastes. The boy’s performance early in the exam is commendable, but he seems to tire easily, which is so strikingly at odds with what he manages to accomplish before the end. He _ destroyed _ the zero-pointer, crushed its head like a flimsy aluminum can. He can pull gloves and hammers out of thin air, jump twenty stories and crush. Giant. Robots. 

It defies every expectation Shota would normally gather from the behavior he had displayed in the beginning. He seemed meek, if determined, looking like he was about to cry the entire time. He didn’t _ act _ like someone who could have that much power; in fact, he seemed barely capable of controlling it. Passing out immediately after an attack is not the mark of someone who knows what they’re doing-- and _ yet, _ there’s something under there, beneath his anxiety and lack of control. Potential, he could say, but that’s obvious. 

Maybe it was the way he jumped so immediately to someone’s defense against such seemingly insurmountable odds. Shota can’t say for sure, and that’s what truly interests him. The potential, the control, he can work with those things. Lots of people have potential. But there’s something beyond that potential, drive, focus, whatever it might be, he doesn’t know. Hopefully, within the next few months, he’ll be able to find out. 

This kid better be worth the trouble.

~

Izuku wakes up slowly, coming into his surroundings a few things at a time. His head pounds, but he starts to hear quiet voices around him, feel sunlight warming his head, feel the coarse asphalt digging into his cheek and palms and oh god the exam! 

His eyes shoot open as everything falls into place, and he sits up quickly, before immediately regretting it as his head pounds. Groaning and rubbing his eyes, the voices quiet, before he hears a quiet tutting sound right in front of him and looks up. His eyes widen and he grins despite the ache.

“Recovery Girl! Oh wow, it’s so cool to meet you, you’re such an incredible support hero and I loved reading all about your work when you were younger, I-” 

“Now now young man, let’s not get too excited.” Recovery Girl cuts him off tersely, her voice kind but to the point. “I’m flattered by the recognition, but you’ve been injured, and I’m here to heal you.” With that Recovery Girl swings her syringe-shaped cane forward and uses it to tip his chin up while she checks his pupils, probably looking for symptoms of a concussion. She checks over a few other things, gently prodding his ribs, asking him if he feels any internal bleeding, etc. 

Finally, she helps him stand up, and even though his legs feel weak and wobbly with exhaustion, his balance seems fine. 

“Alright then!” Recovery Girl says, tone pleased. “It seems you’re just suffering from quirk exhaustion, which is a miracle given the height of your fall. Now, lean down.” Izuku nods and does so, and she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. Izuku knows all about her quirk (which is incredible!) so he isn’t put off in the slightest. Almost immediately, Izuku lets out a sigh of relief as the ache fades from his muscles and the pounding headache goes away.

“You’ll still be exhausted, my quirk only enhances your own healing process. You’ll want to get some sleep and drink lots of fluids, and it’ll be good to get some sugars in you, so eat these.” She presses a packet of gummies into Izuku’s hand, and he nods at her expectant look. She smiles at him and pats his cheek.

“Good! Now, are there any other students here that could use my help?” She taps her cane expectantly on the ground and hums. Glancing around, Izuku’s eyes immediately land on the girl from earlier, bent over a piece of scrap metal and looking nauseous. Recovery Girl looks in the same direction and tuts, hobbling her way over there. She gently lays a hand on the girl’s shoulder, getting her attention. 

“More quirk exhaustion, I take it?” Recovery Girl says, and the girl nods weakly. A quick kiss and another pack of gummies fix that problem, and Recovery Girl seems satisfied enough with her work to move on. 

“You young people should be a little more cautious! Exhausting your quirk is dangerous for growing kids like you. Now go home and get some rest!” She gives them both a meaningful look before nodding firmly and turning to go on her way. As she leaves, Izuku finally manages to make his way over to the girl.

“Hey, are you alright?” He says gently. She nods tiredly, still eating the gummies, though she doesn’t seem too pleased with them. Probably the nausea. 

“Yeah, I’m- I think I’m fine. I just got caught under a piece of concrete when the building near me shook, and I had already exhausted my quirk so much I didn’t think I could get it off of me.” Her face seems to tighten at the memory, before her expression smooths out and she grins at him. “You were amazing though! I can’t believe you jumped so high, and that hammer was incredible!” Izuku blushes, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Oh, uh, t-thank you. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I just knew I needed to help.” Suddenly, his eyes light up with excitement. “You were incredible too, though! Your quirk is amazing! It’s anti-gravity, right? It’s just-- that’s such an incredible power, with so many uses! If I had hit the ground I would’ve broken a ton of bones and gotten really hurt, and you saved me!”

The praise must really take her by surprise, because she blushes and is quiet for a good few moments, before she awkwardly clears her throat. “I, um, thank you.” Her expression still seems like one of disbelief, and Izuku tilts his head to the side in confusion.

“Oh, sorry, was that weird? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I just, ah, I really like analyzing quirks.” Izuku turns sheepish and fiddles with his sleeves, but the girl is quick to throw her hands up and correct him.

“No, no, just-- it’s kind of surprising that you would be so interested in me? My quirk seems so simple and boring compared to one like yours! I was just-- surprised, is all.” She smiles brightly at him. “I do appreciate it, though.” 

Then, she seems to startle at a thought. “Oh! Hey, what’s your name? We should probably introduce ourselves!” Stuffing the gummies wrapper into her pocket, the girl holds out her hand.

“I’m Ochako Uraraka!” A bit surprised by the gesture, Izuku fumbles to shake her hand. Her grip is firm, but she keeps her pinkie finger from touching his skin by lifting it up. Probably something to do with her quirk.

“Izuku Midoriya! You’ve been really kind to me today Uraraka, I’m glad I can thank you by name.” Uraraka laughs and lets go of his hand, giving him another disbelieving look.

“You’re really interesting too, Midoriya. Thanks for saving me from the zero-pointer.” Just then, a speaker crackles to life and calls out that students should finish vacating the test area within the next five minutes. Uraraka sighs and nods towards the entrance. 

“Well, we better get going! If you want, we could walk back together, and I could find some paper to give you my number?” She says lightly, and Izuku nods around a sudden lump in his throat as they start walking. He’s making a new friend just, that easily? It’s never been that easy for him before. It’s a little hard to adjust to.

The walk back to the entrance and the bus that will take them back to UA is nice enough, Uraraka making small-talk about school and her hometown. She really is a nice person, and she has lots of interesting things to say. The conversation changes, though, when she asks him which class he thinks he’ll be in.

“Oh, ah, actually I… I only got twelve points. I don’t know that I’ll get in.” The reminder of his failure makes him a bit light-headed, and he has to push down the dread to focus on the conversation. Uraraka looks upset and shakes her head. 

“No, you have to get in! What you did was incredible, they have to realize that. I know that robot was technically zero points, but they have to recognize that what you did was worth something!” At Izuku’s dejected look, Uraraka pats him gently on the arm, and they’re both quiet. He wants to have hope, but he doesn’t know what would hurt more: preparing for rejection and getting it, or hoping for a miracle that might not come. 

They spend the ride back to UA talking occasionally, but Uraraka gives him some space, which he appreciates. As soon as they can, they exchange numbers and Uraraka says a few more words of encouragement before she has to leave for something important (which she seems strangely determined about as she says it). Finally alone, Izuku goes to find Katsuki. Hearing about how well he did might cheer him up.

~

The next week of waiting is absolutely torturous. Katsuki knows he crushed the exam, getting at least 60 points from all the robots he managed to destroy, and Izuku is happy for him. It is comforting to know that his friend is going to get in, and that all his hard work has paid off. But Izuku is having a hard time being positive. His points were abysmal, and even if he got a perfect score on the written exam, the practical is what decides the suitability for the hero course. 

Uraraka texts him a few times over the week, and conversations with her are a nice distraction-- he gets Katsuki to apologize, and Uraraka laughs a lot about that-- but those are only temporary. Really, he spends those seven days wallowing in his misery (Yagi hasn’t come over either, and he’s felt too awful to call), so it’s a relief when the letter comes. Still, he’s afraid to open it on his own, and he’s about to ask Katsuki to come over when his best friend slams into his house, waving a shredded letter and a metal disk in triumph.

“I told you I crushed it, idiot!” Katsuki yells with an almost manic energy, slamming the door behind him as he stomps inside. Izuku is just standing there limply holding his own letter, and Katsuki scoffs and starts pushing Izuku up the stairs into his room. 

“It’s gonna be fuckin’ fine, Izu. You crushed a robot, even if it was supposed to be zero points it’s gotta count for something, otherwise I’m gonna have to blow some idiot evaluator up.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku squeaks as he closes the door behind them, and his scandalized reaction gives Katsuki enough time to finally snatch the letter out of his hand and rip it open. There’s a piece of paper inside, but more important is the same type of disc Katsuki had. He plucks that out of the envelope and sets in on Izuku’s desk with a grin, pulling Izuku over and sitting him down in his desk chair. Izuku is immediately filled with dread, but Katsuki puts an arm around him and squeezes comfortingly. He relaxes, just a little, when the disc suddenly flickers and lights up.

A hologram is projected into the air of All Might in his hero form, wearing a suit and standing a bit stiffly in front of a colorful background. Yagi had never actually mentioned the exact reason he was in Musutafu now, but Izuku always imagined it had to do with UA-- here’s their answer.

“Hello!” All Might announces with his usual flair. “I am here as a projection!” His pose relaxes a bit as his voice takes on a more appropriate volume. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t contacted you in that last week, and it’s because I had lots of work to do! I am here at UA to become a new instructor, and I was lucky enough to participate in the exam evaluation.” All Might’s energy climbs up again, and he strikes an inspiring pose. 

“Midoriya, you passed the written exam with flying colors, but as you know, you only received twelve points on the practical-- not enough to pass.” The words send a spear of fear and shame through his heart, and Izuku fights to hold back tears. Katsuki hugs him tighter, growling at the projection like he can threaten it to say what he wants.

“But!” All Might interrupts his burgeoning panic attack, and Izuku looks back up at the screen. “That’s not all there is to it. Something very interesting happened right after the exam!” As he says that, the camera shifts to show a screen next to All Might, and he presses a small remote in his hand to play a video.

The video is of… Uraraka talking to Present Mic? She stands awkwardly in front of him as All Might explains that she came in directly after the exam.

“Um, excuse me.” Uraraka starts, only continuing at Present Mic’s nod. “You know the student Izuku Midoriya? He has the curly green hair and freckles. Is it possible for me to share some of my points with him? He- um,” and she pauses, looking off to the side, before her face turns hard and she tightens her grip on her bag. “He saved me from the zero-pointer! But he told me that he didn’t get very many points in the end, and I want to- I want to help him. ” The video stops there, and Izuku feels like he just got slapped in the face. Uraraka would really do so much to try and help him, when she barely knew him? 

All Might lowers his remote, still facing the screen. “It is not just your quirk that defines you, Midoriya. Your actions inspire others to act selflessly, to put themselves at risk because they want to do the right thing.” All Might turns back to Izuku, his grin proud.

“The test was not only graded on villain points!” In the background, the video resumes, with Present Mic telling Uraraka not to worry, but Izuku isn’t paying attention, his full focus on All Might as the breath catches in his throat. Is there really a chance…?

“What kind of hero course rejects people who save others and strive to do the right thing? We have something to evaluate those people, and reward them for their heroism-- rescue points! As teachers review the exam, they award these points with several other judges!”

“You may only have seventeen villain points, Izuku Midoriya, but your for rescue points you have sixty!” He can’t- he can’t believe it. _ Seventy-two points. _ It’s a good thing Katsuki is still holding him or he might collapse.

All Might is beaming at the camera, pride pouring off of him. “You both pass. Now, young Midoriya, it’s time for your hero academia!” All Might outstretches his hand, smile still bright, and Izuku finally feels the damn break as he chokes on a sob. His dream, the thing he’s been striving towards all his life, is finally within his reach. 

As the projection dims and Izuku cries into Katsuki’s chest, there’s only one thought on his mind.

He’s finally made it. He has a chance.

He’s going to be a _ hero. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, sorry for the wait! Finals have been killing me and I wanted to write a bit more in advance before posting this chapter. So that means double update! Hope you guys enjoy, and I hope you like where the story is going haha. Did you like the perspective change, by the way? I know it's the first one but I wanted to experiment. I don't really know what I'm doing though, so any comments are really useful!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day jitters can be tough to overcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones gonna have some more feels because I don't control how much the characters cry.

Things don’t change immediately for Izuku, after the exam. There’s plenty of congratulations over his passing-- his mom gives him the longest, teariest hug possible and Katsuki clings to him for the rest of the day-- and they even invite Yagi over for dinner (Katsudon, Izuku’s favorite). The hesitant way he agrees makes Izuku think he might be blowing off work to celebrate, which touches him in a way he doesn’t really know how to comprehend.

But the point is that despite everything, it doesn’t really feel like things are  _ different _ . The sun doesn’t shine any brighter and the world doesn’t turn any faster-- things just, exist, as they always have. It’s almost confusing, with how changed he  _ feels _ , to see that the world is still just… normal. There’s a period of adjustment, of coming down from the elation of his achievement, where he just has to get used to the reality of waiting for change. It isn’t bad, just… quieter. 

It’s another quiet and unremarkable day just a couple weeks after the exam, and Yagi had come over for dinner. He and Izuku and Katsuki are still training, just not as intensely, and they’ve settled into an easy sort of routine. It’s after dinner now, both of them having tea in the living room while Izuku ribs Yagi for his embarrassing work stories. The man apparently misplaces paperwork often enough that he’s been scolded multiple times, and it’s nice to know that even the number one hero can be hopeless at something so mundane. 

They’ve been quiet for a while, now, just sipping at their tea, and Izuku hums at a thought. 

“Does it ever…” Izuku starts, before letting his voice peter off as he searches for the words. Yagi nods encouragingly for him to continue, and he takes a breath.

“Does it ever feel like, with everything you have and everything you have to do, that it’s too much and not enough, all at once?” He says quietly, setting his tea down on the table so he can stare down at his hands. If he lets it, he can see green dancing across his skin.

“That even with all of your resources and abilities and everything you’ve already accomplished behind you, that it’s not going to be enough? That there’s- that there’s just too  _ much _ going on, too much to do, and an end seems too far away to reach?” Izuku clenches both his hands into fists, closing his eyes and sucking in another deep breath. 

“That you might not be good enough to reach it?”

When he lets himself think about it, and he often lets himself think about it, it feels like there’s a pit in his chest that holds nothing but despair. That there’s a part of him that  _ always _ thinks “It’s not going to be enough,  _ I’m _ not going to be enough,” and the only thing that shuts those thoughts out is not thinking about them. But that doesn’t feel like it will work now that he has so much responsibility to the future, so many people he’s one day going to protect. It feels like something he needs to confront, but he’s terrified of doing that, because what if those thoughts are right?

When Izuku opens his eyes and looks over, Yagi is staring at him with the kindest expression such a gaunt face can muster. There’s a sadness and an understanding there, too, and Izuku feels something in him tighten painfully.

“Midoriya, that is…” Yagi pauses and sighs, searching for his own words.

“There are often questions that heroes ask themselves every day, my boy, and that is one of them.” There’s something infinitely tired in his eyes as he says it, some weight he must bear.

“Whenever one chooses to do the right thing, to save someone from peril or death or fear, there is always going to be something else you could have done. Maybe someone else you could have helped, or some decision that could have been made. Heroes might deal with situations that spell certain doom, but much more frightening, I often find, are the uncertain ones.” Yagi pauses for a moment and closes his eyes, and Izuku feels as though the hole in his chest is stealing the air from his lungs.

“Wondering whether or not we could have done  _ more _ after the fact is a path only to ruin, Midoriya. It will eat away at you like nothing else can. You have to remember that heroes are just people, no matter how much power they may wield, and no one person can do everything.” Yagi turns to him, looking into Izuku’s eyes, and he feels more frozen than if the weight of the ocean was on his back.

“I mourn every person I couldn’t save, of course I do. I’ve seen senseless destruction that destroys countless innocent lives, and I mourn every single one. And I tell you this not to turn you off your path, but to remind you that you  _ can’t save everyone. _ And the only thing you can do, the only thing that could bring any justice to the people you couldn’t save, is to try anyway.”

There’s a long moment after Yagi finishes speaking where the air stands still and Izuku stays frozen, paralyzed by the dread of confronting this ugly thought inside of him, before his heart stutters back to beating and he sucks in another trembling breath. 

“More than anything, I want to be good enough to try.” He whispers, hands clenched into painfully tight fists in his lap as he feels the first fat drops of tears rolling down his cheeks. Yagi looks at him with something soft in his expression, comfort maybe, and makes his way closer to Izuku to put a gentle hand over the fists in his lap.

“You are good enough, Midoriya. I see you try so very hard, every day, to get better, and I have so much faith in you. You are already good enough.” Trembling with the sobs now wracking his body, Izuku curls into Yagi’s side as the man wraps a slender arm around him and lets himself cry. 

That despair may never go away, but he won’t let it control him. And here, for just a moment, he can fall apart without that darkness swallowing him whole. The fear and uncertainty can crush him, but he won’t break, not completely. Despite everything, he’s going to be good enough, he’s going to  _ try _ , and that’s enough. 

~

It’s Spring, now, and it’s going to be his first day at UA. The last few months had been calmer, after his talk with Yagi. He felt more at ease with those fears than he had in a while. It feels like something changed in their relationship, too, that they understand just that much more about each other. It’s nice.

Uraraka (Ochako now, she insists) had come over a few times, and she and Katsuki got along surprisingly well. They had a lot of shared interests and they both had a competitive streak a mile wide, so they bonded over destroying each other in various games. Katsuki seemed like he really respected her and how she could stand up for herself; Izuku was just happy Katsuki finally had someone else he could talk to. Not that he doesn’t like spending so much time around him, but it’s good for him to open up a little more around other people. He and Ochako can talk about a lot of different things that Izuku just might not be interested in, and that’s good! 

Also, they’re both really cute when they get heated over a game or an argument. Katsuki can’t bully Ochako into backing down because she isn’t scared of him at all, which makes for quite the show.

One other thing he thinks back on fondly was the day they all stayed up together and finished designing their hero costumes. Ochako apparently wasn’t even going to submit a design and, bringing up the possible dangers of giving a team of high school students free reign over a female hero’s costume design, they talked her out that pretty quickly. The designs they settled on by the end had all been amazing, and he’s excited to finally see them in action in class soon. Speaking of which, he’s kind of running late.

Izuku had woken up later than usual, when Katsuki stormed into his room and yelled at him. He only had enough time to change, eat a quick breakfast, and give his mom one last hug before they had to leave. Katsuki suggests fusing, and Izuku couldn’t be happier after all the stress of the morning, so it’s Kizuku that runs to the station and finds himself at the gates of UA once again.

For a moment he briefly considers staying fused, hesitant to be alone, but eventually he sighs and unfuses anyway. They’re really cutting it close here, but at least that means there aren’t any people around to gawk as they split apart and Katsuki links their hands again, pulling him through the entrance.

The halls are enormous and winding, and Izuku is having trouble keeping up with where they’re going, but Katsuki seems confident leading the way. He always has been much better with directions than Izuku. 

Soon enough, they’ve stopped in front of an enormous door plainly labeled “1-A,” and while Izuku takes a moment to stare at it in a mix of awe and trepidation, Katsuki just shoves it open and saunters inside. Huffing at his impatience, Izuku scrambles after him, coming up to Katsuki’s side to find every eye in the classroom turned on them. Izuku gives a tiny wave, when something bowls into him from behind and he’s wrapped up in a hug.

“Izuku!! Oh, I’m seriously so glad you’re here! Aren’t you excited?” Ochako is as bright and bubbly as ever, and Izuku laughs as he pats one of the arms wrapped around his chest. To his left, Katsuki huffs and crosses his arms, but Izuku just rolls his eyes. Izuku will never understand that reaction. He knows Katsuki likes her just fine and they’re good friends now, but sometimes he gets upset with her for no reason and he just doesn’t get it. It’s not like he’ll find out anytime soon though, so he turns his head to reply to Ochako.

“I’m glad you’re here too! And of course I am, this is my dream.” Izuku says with a laugh, and she smiles and pulls away from the hug. It looks like she’s about to say something else when they’re interrupted by someone quietly clearing their voice. It’s the blue haired kid from the exam, and as Izuku turns to him his posture goes ramrod straight before he bows at a frankly impossible right angle.

“I would just like to apologize for my behavior at the exam! I completely missed the true point and misjudged you in the process! I hope we can come to understand each other better as students of UA.” He’s still bowing, and Izuku feels supremely awkward, rubbing the back of his neck and trying not to be rude.

“Ah, no no, it’s ok! You were right that I was being disruptive during that presentation, you don’t have to worry about any hard feelings.” The boy finally straightens back up, and Izuku fights back a sigh of relief as he holds out his hand. “Izuku Midoriya!” The boy takes his hand and shakes it firmly and maybe a bit too fast.

“Tenya Iida! I am from Somei Academy, though I don’t know if my background will help me much in a class with such varied and talented students.” Izuku feels himself flush, and he’s about to stutter out a nonsense reply when he realizes there’s something familiar about that name.

“Oh! Are you Ingenium’s brother?” Iida looks genuinely surprised at the recognition, nodding slowly.

“Yes, actually, how did you-” A voice from the open door cuts Iida off.

“If you’re here to socialize, get out.” The speaker is lying on the floor in a zipped up yellow sleeping bag, the only part of them showing being a very exhausted looking face. The front unzips enough for a hand to slip out with a jelly pack, which the person sucks down, before they finally sigh, unzip the bag, and stand up.

“This is the hero course. It took you all eight seconds to quiet down, but time is precious in this line of work. You lot need to be aware of that, and to be more rational going forward.” The man who must be their homeroom teacher stalks into the room, dropping the sleeping bag carelessly behind his desk. Everyone seems frozen, not even finding their seats, but the man doesn’t seem to care.

“As you probably should have realized by now, I’m your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you. Now,” and Aizawa reaches down into the sleeping bag and pulls out a duffle bag, which he tosses onto the nearest student’s desk.

“Change into your gym uniforms, we’re going outside.” 

~

“Mr. Aizawa, what about the entrance ceremony?” Ochako asks, the confusion in her voice shared by the rest of the class. They’ve stopped right next to the track in the field outside, and Izuku tugs self-consciously on his gym uniform. The top is zipped down enough to expose his gem, and he flushes whenever anyone looks at it oddly. Thankfully, Katsuki is a grounding presence at his side.

“Oh, we’re not doing that. Or the guidance sessions.” Murmurs of surprise and still more confusion rippled through the crowd, and Aizawa continues without acknowledging them.

“UA is known for its “freestyle” educational system, which applies to teachers as well. We can teach our classes in whatever way we see fit, and I’m here to prepare you to become heroes. A determination of your current skills and potential is necessary for me to teach you.”

Aizawa pulls a softball sized ball out of one of the folds of his scarf (does he keep things in there??) and tosses it to Katsuki, who catches it easily. 

“Bakugou, how far could you throw in middle school?”

“Sixty-seven meters.”

“Great. Now, that was, of course, without your quirk. I don’t care at all about that number-- I want to see what you can do without holding back.” Aizawa gestures vaguely towards the pitch, and Katsuki shrugs before jogging over. He swings his arms a few times to loosen his shoulders, tests the weight of the ball, before shooting a grin back at Izuku.

“Watch and learn, nerd!” Izuku can’t help the reflexive smile that comes to his face at Katsuki’s stupid teasing, and he sticks his tongue out in response. Katsuki smirks, before tossing the ball into his right hand, reeling back and shooting it off with an enormous explosion. There’s a collective gasp as the class watches the ball sail into the air and out of view, and Katsuki saunters back over, smug grin plastered over his face.

“705.2 meters. Not bad.” Katsuki preens even more at the number, and Izuku just elbows him in the side. Aizawa narrows his eyes at the antics before moving on.

“The most important things to know when you begin this kind of training are your limits. Before I can teach you effectively, I need to know where you’re at now, and when I do, I can push you to move past that.” Aizawa pull out another softball and gestures at the class.

“We’re going to be performing the kind of gym assessments you might have done in middle school, but here there are no limits. Use your quirks, cartwheel down the track, I don’t care. I just want you to try and achieve the highest results possible by any means available to you.” Noise sweeps through the students once again, this time louder and much more excited.

“This is awesome! We can use our quirks for real?!” An energetic kid with bright blonde hair says, pumping his fist enthusiastically in the air. “Man, the hero course is awesome!” Off to the side, Aizawa narrows his eyes, and Izuku feels like the temperature of their surroundings has dropped.

“Awesome, you say?” Aizawa says, stalking forward, and the entire class collectively shrinks back.

“You want to become heroes after only three years here, and you expect fun and games?” No one moves or replies, and Aizawa shakes his head.

“Right, then, here’s some incentive.” He smiles, but the expression is more threatening than joyful, and Izuku feels his heart sink as fear climbs up his throat.

“The student with the lowest score out of all events will be deemed to have no potential and be expelled.”

Expelled? Izuku feels his throat close up and his breath catch, and he wonders for the first time if he was wrong about the entrance exam being his biggest obstacle.

~

“Expelled? Mr. Aizawa, you can’t be serious! It’s only the first day, and that seems completely unfair!” Ochako says, voice almost pleading. Aizawa turns to her, no longer projecting that menacing aura. Instead, he just looks tired.

“There isn’t very much in the world that’s fair, Miss Uraraka.” He looks around at the whole class as he continues.

“Natural disasters, rampaging villains, car crashes and accidents… the world doesn’t operate with an understanding of fairness. Death and disaster is always just around the corner, not waiting for anything, but being brought upon by reckless chance and angry people.” He sighs, pushing the hair out of his eyes and looking off into the distance for a moment, before turning back to the class.

“Heroes are the ones that correct for that unfairness. We work to bring justice to an unjust world and are fought at every turn. Unfairness, injustice, they seem as inevitable as fate-- but don’t you decide your own fate? Isn’t that what heroes do?” Everyone just shuffles a bit, still not able to respond with any confidence to that kind of question, and Aizawa sighs again.

“Don’t tell me that you’ll give up at the first hint of opposition. You all want to be heroes, right? Then use your strength to overcome it all. Show me what you think of fate.” Despite the nerves, the words strike something in his fellow classmates, and he can practically feel the determination growing in the air. Ochako in particular looks back at Aizawa with steel in her eyes, a refusal to be anything less than her best self, and he knows she’ll be ok. 

For himself, though, Izuku isn’t so sure.

~

The first event is the fifty-meter dash, and Izuku tries to feel at least a little confident about it. He can boost his speed with One For All fairly easily, he’s been practicing it for long enough. It’s just… so many of the other students have such incredible quirks that they’re using in such new and interesting ways, while Izuku still barely knows how to control either halves of his powers. He feels like a child among people so used to their quirks that they can use them as easy as breathing, and it’s making him anxious. 

Sure, he can use One For All, but not for very long, and if he tires too early then he might as well be forfeiting the rest of the test, he’s not even going to make top ten, what if he comes in LAST--

A hand on his shoulder jolts Izuku out of his spiral. Katsuki is at his side, his usual angry-annoyed expression underlaid with worry. “Izu, hey. Calm the hell down, alright? You’re gonna make yourself sick.” Katsuki’s voice is low and gentle, and his expression softens even further at Izuku only managing a shaky breath in response.

“You’re gonna be fine, I’ve seen you do this so I know you can, yeah? We both crushed the exam, we shouldn’t have a problem beating some extras at a gym quiz.” The hand on his shoulder falls down his back so Katsuki can snake an arm around his waist and pull him into a hug, and Izuku would be lying if he said he didn’t need it. When his breathing evens out a bit and he can finally talk again, Izuku laughs quietly. 

“Don’t call our classmates extras, Kacchan.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want dork!”

“Sure, Kacchan, that’s--”

“If you two are done, you’re up next.” Aizawa interrupts their bickering, and Izuku feels his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Katsuki just huffs and lets go of him, only to grab his hand and pull him over to the starting track. Izuku smiles weakly, happy for the physical support when he’s so scattered, and barely pays any mind to the odd look Aizawa gives them. He must just be annoyed that they weren’t ready.

At the starting line Izuku rolls his shoulders and does a few stretches before letting One For All fill his body. There’s still that tightness in his chest, but he does his best to smooth that down and focus, getting into starting place. At the same time, Katsuki stretches a bit, before toeing his shoes off and getting into place as well.

Now that they’re ready, Aizawa counts down quickly and they start. Knowing what Katsuki was planning-- he’d seen him blast himself forward in training already, and adding his feet to that will only make him even faster-- Izuku decides to put as much energy as he can into a jump propelling himself forward. Which, well, with the way he sails over the finish line and lands face first in the grass, was a bit of an overestimation. His time was good though, managing to beat Katsuki’s by a whole second. 

Picking himself up out of the dirt with a groan, a couple of the other students seem to be asking if he’s ok, but it’s Katsuki that comes and helps him up despite how hard he’s laughing.

“Ugh, shut up Kacchan, I don’t know how to estimate the amount very well yet!!” Izuku whines, trying to get the world to stop spinning, while Katsuki just keeps laughing at him between saying something along the lines of “fucking nerd launches himself into the dirt.” Eventually he calms down enough to stop and give Izuku a pat on the back.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t pout about it, it was funny. Now let me help you get all that shit off your face.”

“There’s something on my face?” 

“You’re covered in grass, idiot!”

“Oh.”

“Just sit still for a second.” Izuku does, closing his eyes and letting Katsuki brush his hands over his face. Now that he’s looking, he can feel little blades of grass on his cheeks and flecks of dirt digging into his skin. He was so focused on how dizzy the landing made him that he didn’t even notice, and worry flashes through his mind. That kind of inattention is really bad!

“I can hear you worrying in there Izu, so shut up.” Katsuki says roughly, softly brushing the last few bits of dirt off of his face. Izuku opens his eyes and gives his Katsuki his best sheepish smile, and he just huffs in response.

“You’re fucking hopeless sometimes, you know?” Katsuki sounds annoyed, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face and Izuku knows he’s just teasing. There’s the sound of someone clearing their throat to the side, and both of them turn towards the noise, though Katsuki looks distinctly more annoyed about the interruption than is probably appropriate. It’s one of the other students, the kid with the spiky red hair and shark teeth. At Katuski’s glare he throws his hands up apologetically and smiles brightly at them.

“Sorry if I was interruptin’ something, I just wanted to tell you how awesome your quirks were! I’m pretty sure you have two of the fastest times in the class, and that’s just,” the kid clenches his fist and closes his eyes, seemingly overcome with emotion, “so manly!” He brightens back up immediately, and holds out a hand. “I’m Eijirou Kirishima by the way!” 

Izuku blinks. “Oh, you were second in the exam! That’s incredible, I can’t wait to see you in action in class!” Kirishima looks taken aback for a moment, seemingly just as unused to praise as Ochako had been, and he looks briefly to Katsuki as if to ask “is that normal?” Katsuki rolls his eyes and nods back, and Kirishima seems to finally collect himself. 

“Ah, thank you man! It’s just kind of surprising that you would say that, with everything everybody’s heard you do. And seen, now.” Izuku shakes his head, of course he deserves recognition for doing so well, before realizing he hasn’t even introduced himself in return. Embarrassed, he quickly tries to step forward and actually shake Kirishima’s hand, when the movement makes his head spin and sends him to his knees. Katsuki shouts in alarm and is immediately by his side, but Izuku just waves him off.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m fine. I think I just exhausted myself a little bit already.” Which is… troubling, considering how many more events they have to do. The thought makes the dread come climbing back up his throat, and he pulls in a few shaky breaths to try and calm himself down. Katsuki has an arm around him, squeezing gently for comfort, and eventually he feels his muscles relax, but the thoughts are still there, and he won’t stop being on edge for a while. Kirishima looks incredibly distressed, holding out his hands like he wants to help but doesn’t know what to do, and Izuku tries to reassure him.

“Ah, sorry for being so dramatic, Kirishima, my anxiety is just really bad sometimes. I’m Izuku Midoriya, by the way!” Katsuki helps him stand, and he feels a little more stable now. Even if he can still feel the sluggish pull of exhaustion, he won’t give in to it. He’s going to keep going, no matter what. 

Just as it looks like Kirishima is about to say something else, Aizawa calls them together for the next test, and the conversation moves on.

~ 

The next few tests are terrible, to put it lightly. The anxiety he felt at tiring himself out so easily has taken root in his bones, and every use of his quirk is accompanied by self-doubt. It feels like he’s using up too much energy every time, and compounded by his fear that if he does too little he won’t get a good enough score, it produces terrible results. He gets admirable scores in the grip test and standing long jump, but at the complete cost of his stamina, enough that his side-stepping score is the worst in the class. 

Now at the fifth event, throwing, Izuku is shaking on his feet, so exhausted he can barely stand. Katsuki has basically been holding him up for the last five minutes, and every muscle in his body protests his continued exertions. The continually more disappointed looks Aizawa keeps shooting him aren’t helping, and he feels like he’s about to burst into tears. 

Ochako (and surprisingly, Kirishima) have been trying to be supportive, but he wonders if they’re disappointed too. Ochako got an incredible score on the throw, and Kirishima uses his quirk in really innovative ways. It makes him wonder if they should even have to put up with someone so susceptible to their emotions they can be incapacitated by them. The thought makes him want to curl up in a little ball and melt through the ground, and he clenches his fists tightly in hopes that the pain will bring a little sense to his thoughts. It doesn’t help very much, and by the time Izuku is called to the pitch and handed a ball he’s so anxious he feels like he’s going to throw up. 

He gets into position, hefting the ball up and down a few times even as his arm trembles, and he pulls back to throw, ready to put the last dregs of his energy into it and hopefully not pass out. Everyone is watching him and they’re going to be so disappointed, he’s going to let people down, and he can’t- he  _ can’t _ -

The ball leaves his hand and falls a piddly distance, but the more pressing issue is the fact that Izuku can’t feel even the barest lightning energy in his veins, and the terror is a vice grip on his insides now. His sheer drop into a panic attack is interrupted almost immediately by thin fabric bands wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him face to face with-- oh, shit, Aizawa is Erasherhead.

“Erasherhead?” Izuku blurts out, voice cracking under the tightness in his throat, and Aizawa looks momentarily surprised, before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at Izuku.

“Midoriya. I thought I saw potential in you, after the entrance exam and your initial performance in these tests, but I can’t abide your lack of control. You exhaust yourself so easily-- do you expect people to always be able to step in and help you after you’ve incapacitated yourself?”

“I- I c-can’t- I’m n-not-”

There’s a sound to his right, probably Katsuki yelling something, but everything is muffled in comparison to the ringing in his ears. His entire body is trembling, not just from exhaustion but from the sheer, incapacitating terror he feels. Aizawa is right, of course he is. Even now, Izuku is proving his point-- but that thought just makes the panic worse, makes his head spin and his chest tighten and blackness crowd the edges of his vision. 

He closes his eyes against it as he tries to focus, and he can feel tears streaming down his face as he finally starts crying. His reaction must be a shock to Aizawa, because the man finally lets go of him, and Izuku collapses onto the ground, gasping and crying and desperately sucking in too-fast gulps of air. There’s more yelling and the sound of a brief struggle before Katsuki is pulling his head into his lap and running soothing hands through his hair.

“Hey, Izu, it’s ok, you’re ok. I need you to breathe for me, ok? Slowly, slowly.” Katsuki says gently, but Izuku feels the panic mounting so fast he can barely think, and his ability to make conscious decisions has flown out the window. He clutches at Katsuki’s shirt, trying to pull him closer as he sobs and gasps, and he feels Katsuki bend protectively over him, grabbing his unoccupied hand and holding it tightly. He just wants it to stop hurting, he wants to breathe, he wants to think, he wants  _ something  _ to help. 

His mind is a whirlwind of panic but it must know some things, instinctively. Izuku feels his trembling hand twist in Katsuki’s grip until their fingers are intertwined, feels his gem glow blindingly bright, and suddenly everything’s not so bad. The part of him that’s Izuku is still having a panic attack, but, surrounded by the blanket of calm Katsuki is projecting, it’s much easier to come down from. Slowly, still feeling the exhaustion of both of his components, Kizuku pushes himself into a sitting position and opens his eyes. 

Everyone is staring. Well, that’s not much of a surprise, but it does send a shot of anxiety through him that he has to work to smooth out.

“Hi, everyone.” He gives a tiny wave, smiling softly. “I’m Kizuku. Just- giving them a moment to calm down.”

The class continues staring, and it’s Aizawa that manages to react first. His expression is the most openly confused Kizuku thinks it’s ever been.

“Midoriya and- and… Bakugou. Could you explain what is happening?” Instead of responding immediately, Kizuku closes his eyes and leans back on his hands, taking a deep breath. Izuku is almost calm, but that still means it’s mostly Katsuki at the wheel, and he doesn’t want to say anything rash. When he finally feels a little more himself, nice and centered and whole, he opens his eyes and pushes himself up to his feet.

“Well, I’m a fusion, sir.” He says brightly.

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“I think it explains the situation pretty well, actually.” He says with a hum, when an idea pops into his head and he runs to grab the ball he was about to use for the test.

“And now that Izuku isn’t having a panic attack, we’re going to finish the test.” 

“That’s not-”

Before Aizawa can finish, Kizuku has summoned his open-palm gloves and is reeling back for the pitch. As he swings forward, a massive explosion and streaks of green lightning send the ball flying, and he shakes his hand out a bit as he watches it fly. Turning back to Aizawa, he flashes a grin as the man looks down at his tablet.

“... 907.5 meters.”

“Like I said, Izuku isn’t out of the fight yet, sir.”

Aizawa is silent for a long moment before he lets out an incredibly tired sounding sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I don’t know what that was, but I’ll admit that it was surprising, and it showed an aspect of your powers that you have much greater control of.” He sighs again, hand falling off his face as he gives Kizuku a deadpan look. “You’re still going to have to take the test separately.”

Kizuku laughs, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck. “Yeah, I figured.”

~

Thankfully, things turn out… mostly fine. Izuku is still exhausted when they unfuse, but he’s no longer having a panic attack, which is a plus. Really, he just needed to realize that he doesn’t need to use One For All  _ exclusively _ to pass these tests-- the whole point is to be creative with how he uses his quirk! With a slightly more even head, Izuku manages a respectable score on the ball throw by smacking it with his warhammer, and he scrapes through the rest of the tests much the same.

Throughout the rest of the day there’s a predictable chatter about Kizuku and their fusion, but it’s much less hostile than Izuku is used to. Everyone just seems  _ excited _ rather than disgusted, asking him questions and seeming genuinely interested in his response. It’s kind of overwhelming, but also motivating with how positive it is. They don’t have much time to talk between tests, but he thinks Ochako (and maybe Kirishima, if he still wants to be friends with him after all that) are going to have a lot of questions for them after class. He thinks he’s ok with that.

The one other thing he does notice is one of their classmates who gets pretty average scores. Izuku had noticed him throughout the tests, mostly because he had fluffy purple hair that Izuku can’t help but stare at for how pretty it is, but now that he thinks about it the kid is kind of weird altogether-- he gets respectable scores but never shows a visible quirk that would make him stand out. He doesn’t seem to mind much, though, so Izuku tries not to worry for him (sometimes his overactive empathy is a real pain). Mostly, he just looks tired. Izuku hopes he does well enough to stay off the bottom of the scoreboard. He doesn’t want any of his classmates to be expelled, but whatever happens he’ll try to be kind.

Finally, it’s the end of the day, and everyone is standing nervously in front of Aizawa as he reads over their scores on his tablet. After a long moment, where the tension ratchets up and Izuku has to lean hard into Katsuki’s side for support, Aizawa finally hums and hits a button, projecting the scores in front of him for the class to see. Izuku feels himself practically melt as the tension drains out of him-- he’s not in last place.

“Oh, that was a logical ruse, by the way. No one is getting expelled, I just wanted you to push your limits.”

“WHAT??!” The entire class erupts into chaos, but Izuku is too relieved to mind. He just leans into Katsuki’s side, closes his eyes, and promptly falls asleep.

~

Izuku manages to stay asleep for an embarrassingly long period of time considering how much he’s carried and jostled around. When he wakes up in the infirmary Katsuki smacks him on the back of the head and tells him he’s been out for an hour and a half.

“And you waited the whole time?” Izuku says blearily, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“ ‘Course I did idiot, who else was gonna?” Katsuki’s voice is warm, taking on that soft quality it usually does when they’re alone and Katsuki can’t seem to figure out if he’s mad about something or not. Suddenly, his phone buzzes, and Katsuki looks down at it before sending off a reply with a roll of his eyes.

“Round-face has been texting me constantly about you since she left to catch her train. She’s probably gonna call now that you’re up-” As if on cue Katsuki is interrupted by Izuku’s ringtone, the All Might animated series theme song (the best All Might show don’t @ him), and Izuku fumbles to pick it up and answer.

“Hello?”

“IZUKU!” He winces at the noise and pulls the phone away from his ear for a moment while Katsuki snickers. Ochako quickly returns to a more normal volume.

“Sorry, but I was just so worried! You were out cold and no one could wake you up, it was terrible! I can’t believe you pushed yourself that far!!” Her voice finally betrays how mad she is at him for scaring her, and Izuku laughs weakly.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was actually passing out.” Ochako just huffs into the receiver and Izuku laughs again. Just then, there’s a knock at the door, and it opens just enough for Aizawa’s voice to filter through.

“May I come in?” Izuku fumbles a bit with his phone as he tries to respond.

“O-oh, yeah, sure! Um, Ochako, I’ll talk to you more later, I think I have to talk to Mr. Aizawa.”

“Ok!” She chirps, and he can almost here her nodding. “Just don’t forget! Also, Kirishima told me to say hi, I’ll give you his number later.” Izuku smiles, and they say a quick goodbye before he ends the call, setting his phone on the bed so he can fold his hands in his lap and give Aizawa his full attention as the man finally enters.

“I-I’m, ah, I’m really sorry about what happened today, Mr. Aizawa! I know you were, er… worried, about me getting exhausted too easily, and I didn’t mean to let it get that bad.” Izuku says softly, fiddling with the corner of his gym uniform. Rather than responding immediately Aizawa just sighs and shakes his head.

“No, you did well all things considered. You have potential and I’m here to help you learn how to overcome those limits, I can’t fault you for having them in the first place. What I’m more concerned about is this.” Aizawa gestures vaguely with the sheets of paper he had walked in with.

“Your quirk isn’t documented at all, and that needs to be fixed.” Izuku furrows his brow, trying to think back on what it’s even registered as… 

“Oh! I guess just ‘Gem’ isn’t enough?” Aizawa gives him a deadpan stare.

“No, Midoriya, it is not.” Pulling a few sheets of paper out of the stack, Aizawa hands them to him, waiting patiently while he fumbles to accept them.

“These are just some questions about your quirk that you and your mother can fill out for the school. Ideally I would have you tested by a quirk counselor, but we can’t schedule that for another couple of weeks and I’d like to have as much information as soon as possible to do my job.” Izuku nods, and Aizawa seems to relax just slightly, if it could even be called that.

“Good, thank you. Now go home.” 

~

Despite his “nap,” Izuku is even more exhausted by the time they get home. Katsuki was practically carrying him half the time, grumbling all the while, and they couldn’t fuse because Izuku was too worried about the both of them passing out. It’s a relief when he can finally collapse on the living room couch and let his body settle. 

He really did overdo it today, but at least he knows what his limits really are. And he hasn’t broken any bones, yet. Still grumbling, Katsuki flops down on the couch next to him, running a hand through Izuku’s hair while he hums.

“Ok, so, just to make sure this gets through your thick skull-- don’t fucking scare me like that again, Izu!” Katsuki growls out, and Izuku can’t help but laugh, which just makes him even more angry.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just- sometimes it’s funny, that it seems like you care more about my health than I do. You’re just like Mom.” 

Katsuki snorts. “Obviously somebody fucking has to, since you’re so damn lousy at managing it. I can’t believe you were that prepared to pass out! You have the survival skills of a fucking cabbage.” Most of the anger has faded from Katsuki’s voice now that he’s calm enough to be teasing, so Izuku just closes his eyes and lets himself think about everything that’s happened so far. 

He met his classmates, made new friends and passed a test, all on the first day. UA is going to be hard, and probably full of even more surprises, but he’s ready for them now. He wants to be able to face these challenges and get stronger, to move forward and learn everything he can about heroics. Despite all the struggles he seems to face, he wants to get better.

“Kacchan?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we had a pretty good first day overall, yeah?” He smiles up at Katsuki, who just snorts and smiles right back.

“Yeah, Izu. I guess we did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like the double update? Was it worth the wait? Please leave you thoughts! I would really appreciate feedback about where people want the story to go, seriously. Also, I made Aizawa a dramatic bitch and I loved it, but how did you think it was? Am I fucking up everybody's characterization? Who knows! I sure don't. Tell me if you hate it in the comments.
> 
> Also also, I think I have a weird penchant for interrupting people...

**Author's Note:**

> If my tagging sucks or anything else about how I'm posting is weird, please give me pointers, I have no idea what I'm doing. And suggestions for things you might like to see are always welcome! I have a very detailed outline of most of the story planned but not very much actually written, so I'd love some input. This fic is actually going to feature illustrations by me when I get around to it, so I would appreciate comments for which parts you'd like drawn!


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